I encourage my son to believe in Santa. I believe in the spirit of him and want my son to do the same. After all kids should be kids. I took Justyc to see Santa on the 16th. That didnt work to well but it did go as I planned. He screamed when I put him on Santas lap. Justyc is only a year and half old so that explains it.
We as a family go look at Christmas lights after having Potato soup for dinner on Christmas eve. Then we come home and drink hot apple cider, eat a piece of the selected pie (a different flavor every year) and open one gift. Then on Christmas morning we wait till everyone is awake and open the rest of the gifts.
I did take my daughter to see Santa...twice actually! She's not quite 2 years old, so she doesn't really understand the concept of sitting on some big guy's lap yet. She just looked at him weird with a puzzled look on her face, like, "Who are you and why am I sitting on your lap??" I took her out for brunch afterwards (both times) and we had a great time. Her face was priceless. :-)