Another Evening Surprise and the Santa Debate Rages On

I believe yesterday I posted that I didn't want any more evening surprises. Well I got one. In the middle of a very happy conversation with my dad, the phone went out, which means all our digital cable went out. Of course it was also almost the exact moment that Colin got home from work, so he got to call the cable company and sit on hold for at least 30 min. Not a nice surprise.
I can't believe I'm typing this, but today I had to stop a lively discussion about the existence of Santa Claus again. Could someone please inform these kids that it's March? Can't they worry about the Easter Bunny for a change. I believe the subject came up at lunch when Ian's cousin asked if Ian had gotten his pirate ship at Christmas from Santa. Ian of course answered no he had not, it was from mom and dad. Then he just had to add; 'besides, you know Santa is really your mom and dad.' Then ensued a heated debate in which the cousin argued that Santa was a "spirit" and that was why no one ever saw him and besides mom and dad are way too loud to sneak around the house. To which Ian answered 'just see what happens on Christmas if you fall asleep and your mom and dad do too, you won't have any presents under the tree.' Of course the whole time Ian is shooting his retorts about the truth of Santa he turns and looks at me and says 'right,mom?' Now I don't want to be the one who totally shatters the cousin's delusional belief (one that he's clinging to as tightly as he can), so I try to avoid commenting as much as possible. At one point I couldn't even keep a straight face, I burst out laughing. Finally I had to forbid anymore debate, I couldn't take any more!