Le Père Noël

Today, at the grocery store, I was busily loading my groceries onto the conveyer belt, and Tassia was talking to the checker as she was ringing up my groceries.  I couldn't hear what they were saying, but suddenly, the checker started laughing and turned to the checker next to her, "Did you hear what she just said?  I wasn't expecting that!" and then the other checker started laughing, too.  "Alors, qu'est-ce qu'elle vous racont, là?" I asked. ("So, what did she just tell you?").  "Je lui ai demandé si le Père Noël est passé... ("I just asked her if Santa Claus came...")  I didn't need to hear the rest to know what had happened.  I don't know about in the States, but here, adults spend their month of December asking kids about Santa Claus.  I don't know how many French kids actually really believe in Santa Claus, but I know the adults we have met are totally unprepared for Tassia's impish little grin and her impish little laugh and her, "Mais
le Père Noël n'existe pas!"  ("But Santa Claus doesn't exist!")  You should see their faces!  You'd almost think THEY were the ones who believed in Santa Claus and my little almost-four-year-old had ruined it for THEM!