dd(7) has worked out that the truth about Father Christmas

[mrsruffallo]

Would you try to convince her or come clean?
It's out fault; we always do a couple of snowy (flour) footprints. Last year she tasted the 'snow', declared it was flour and we covered ourselves by saying he visited a must have visited a bakery first. She has since asked around and discovered there is no bakery with children living in it nearby.
She has really researched her side of things and confronted us the other morning.
What would you do?

does she have younger/older siblings?

personally I'd just stay vague.

"yes that is a puzzle isn't it"

"no I don't understand where the four came from either"

etc

done with a smile on your face so she can decide whether or not to play along in the game.

Yes, she has a younger sibling so I don't want to blow our cover....

I commend her investagative skills.

She's still very young and I'd maintain the facade.

I remember rumbling the whole Father Christmas business early when my mum one Christmas Eve said, 'I can't be bothered to stay up late, here's your stocking.'

I desperately still wanted to believe and wanted adults to validate Father Christmas.

I like muddleduck's suggested approach!

Yes, muddleduck's mona lisa smile is a v good idea
I am shocked at your mum. Had she been on the sherry?

DD is 5 and has never believed. DS is 11 and believed until he was 8. She worked it out by herself through a process of natural scepticism and us not being clever enough at the lie. We continue to maintain the charade in a light-hearted jokey way, the DCs humour us.

Oh this brings back memories! I was 7 when I worked it out and confronted my mum - I had noticed that the tags on FC's presents were written in the same handwriting as my mum. She had always promised herself that if we asked, she would be honest and tell us that it was made up. She asked me to carry on the secret for my little sister though and I did - although it was only a year or so until she had worked it out as well - although another 3 years until she let slip she knew FC didn't exist after all - she thought we wouldn't get as many presents if FC didn't 'exist' anymore!

I do remember asking my mum at the same time if the birthday fairy was real or not as well and she couldn't bring herself to break it to me on top of FC so that was carried on for YEARS - eventually obviously we knew but never said anything back. She still asks me if the 'birthday fairy has been' and I am nearly 30!

Your DD has incredible deductive powers OP. I told our DD a couple of months ago that FC was me and DH. She was devastated, but, in my defence we were moving from Switzerland to Belgium and the Belgian school is much more sophisticated than the Swiss one.