Is it okay to lie about Santa Claus?

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About the only two ways to make me behave as a youngster were the Santa Clause threat or to smack the shi+ out of me. Just being good for the sake of being good was never enough.

i do not know how i would treat children if i had them.
i would never tell them any lies, but there is a bit of a dilemma when it comes to the fairy tales that most children believe.
if i said santa was not real, then they may be disappointed or they may develop a cynical attitude toward others who propound the idea, and they may be seen as sullen or distant by their classmates.

if i said he was real, then at some point they would rationalize that he wasn't and maybe consider me to be either a liar or stupid, and that may compromise their belief in further advice i may have to dispense as they grow older.

i think i would pretend that i am not sure if he exists or doesn't. i would place myself at their level of curiosity and wonder with respect to santa.

that would seem to me to be a good compromise between lying and shattering their belief in simple things that would help them fit in with their classmates and contemporaries.

How many kids young enough to believe in Santa think long term enough to respond to a threat that is supposed to last all year?