Well.... these things are going to happen sooner or later... We teach our kids not to lie, and to always tell the truth... but the facts are that this is not really a reasonable way to live in society. At times, we do need to obfuscate and avoid being completely true.
Now, we are currently in the period before the Sinterklass big night... which means that the kids can put out a shoe each night (with a carrot for the horses...) in the hopes that Sinterklaas and the Pietjes will visit and leave a small present. In our house, we try to keep it pretty simple... about 1 in 2 or 3 times, there will be something... but the other nights... well, better luck for the next time!
Also, we try to keep the presents pretty small as well (after all, two weeks of crazy amounts of presents... followed by PakjesAvond and then the Christmas proper is just waaaaaaaay to much stuff and loot for a little kid! I wouldn't turn it down for myself... but definitely too much for the little ones! So, mostly, it will be a chocolate or a handful of kruidnoten or maybe once a week there will be something a bit less edible (this week, the older one got a light up automatic pencil sharpener and the little one got a new pencil case with Unicorns!).
However, with the older one being in a class with other kids that have figured out (or have been told by older siblings) that the parents are doing everything... well... the doubt is starting to settle in. A couple of nights ago, she told us her friend had told her that the parents are actually the ones that are leaving treats in the shoes... however, she wanted to write a letter to the Pieten to see if they would answer that problem (sigh.... a failure of logical thinking there... why would you ask the questionable party if they exist?).
So, there was a note left for the Pieten... which basically asked in Dutch, Whether or not the parents are doing the presents in the shoes... plus, there she said that next year, she would love to see the real Sinterklaas for the Intocht (the arrival of Sinterklass into Netherlands) instead of one of the helper Sinterklassen. Sigh... there is so much cognitive dissonance here... she is doubting the point of the Pieten breaking into our house every other evening to leave treats... but not doubting the actual existence of Sinterklass and the Pieten!
Anyway, my wife and I were pretty damn exhausted that evening... and so, we were caught without a cover story. We toyed around with different options for the response:
- Tell the Whole Truth.... Ouch, this would open up so many other problems. If we did the presents, then there might lead to the doubt of Sinterklaas... and that would be a such a terrible thing, the innocence is so beautiful! Plus, we would have to also integrate her into the conspiracy... so that her younger sister wouldn't have her illusion shattered.
- Tell a Part Truth.... Well, this would involve saying that we do it... on the days that the Pieten can't either get into our house or need help in some way. Too complex for a lie... this would lead to the idea that we could communicate directly with the Pieten... too many loose ends to keep tidy.
- Lie... tell her that it was definitely the Pieten that leave the presents and treats. End of Story... continue the illusion for a little bit longer... but we can't control the flow of information from the school... so, this could backfire in a big way.
- Obfuscate and don't directly answer. Well, this was my solution and the one that we would end up running with for this year.
Basically, I drew up (traced... neither myself or my wife can draw....) the picture above... my wife was pretty impressed, and said that it was a great drawing... but when I told her I traced it, she said it was a pretty terrible tracing! However, more importantly, the message is completely obscure and unclear... and I was hoping that she would read into it what she wanted to read (heh... I should become a political operative!).... without the message explicitly saying anything one way or the other...
The next morning... SUCCESS (I hope... time will tell).... she told me that it was definitely the Pieten that left the presents... I asked why, and she said that they had left this message for her... the Piet and the present... so, it was definitely the Pieten that delivered the presents! She also said that she knew that her mother and I couldn't draw... so, it couldn't possibly be us that drew it!
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