Santa in June

"Daddy, is Santa Claus real? Or do parents give presents and say it was Santa Claus?"

That came out of the blue today, at least as far as I was concerned, but maybe Ann had heard something about the subject on TV.

"What do you think?" I asked, switching to Jesuit mode.

"I think it's the parents."

"You're right. You're old enough to know that now."

That was pretty much it. No fuss about the movement of Santa Claus from literal to figurative. Lilly had been much the same way, except she waited until right after Christmas one year to ask, probably in case the jolly old elf turned out to be real after all.