Santa is Watching You...

I came across an interesting idea at my knitting group last night. One of my friends who specializes in adorableness of all kinds, has a family tradition where the parent will look outside and say to the small child, "Did you just see that?" "It looked like a sleigh flying by!" This goes on for a few days until the parent places a small item outside for the child to find as if it fell out of Santa's sleigh while he was on his naughty or nice reconnaissance missions.

The way I understand the tradition, this continues with a few more sightings, fallen toys, and admonitions that "Santa is watching" until Christmas. At first I thought this was immensely cute and made the wait for Santa even more fun for the child, but I am having second thoughts about implementing it with my own kids.

My boys, at least the ones who would understand what was going on, are older and may be starting to doubt the existence of Santa. Would such an elaborate hoax make them feel like I had been involved in a bit of trickery? Is drawing out the arrival of Santa in this way really any worse than Santa in general, the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny?

I do know that I have already stooped to the level of warning a certain Marshall that Santa was always watching so it is best to be on one's best behavior at all times. If I've already gone that far, what's a little Hot Wheels in the snow going to hurt?