My dad was always honest. He said he was too selfish to let someone else take credit for what he bought me and that some parents lie to their kids about Santa. I was always gonna say something similar. But I would add to let the other school children believe the lie if the meet some who do, coz at nine I tried to tell my friend that her dad lied to her and there was no Santa, and that went over about as well as you can imagine. 😅🤣