It's the moment every parent dreads.  You've spent so long explaining to your child about santa and his trips down the chimney.  Then the day comes when your child asks if santa is really real.  You don't want to tell the poor kid that you've been lying to them all this time.  When my son asked I told him that santa had been a real person named Saint Nicholas.  Nick would go around on Christmas eve to all the houses of the  poor children and leave them presents.  He was a wonderful person.  I told my son that parents leave gifts for their kids in memory of Nick.  He thought that was wonderful  He would also help me go through his toys each year so that we could donate them to less fortunate children.  There was a group in town that would rehab used toys and give them to the needy.  I explained things to my son in a way that didn't make him feel like I had lied to him and also gave him a sense of people less fortunate than he was.