My parents weren't the type to dress up. No how, no way. Sad to say, Christmas Eve would normally find Dad passed out from all the partying.
I told the kids about it while they were growing up. Once we put some Christmas fur in the door to look like someone got stuck while leaving. Another time made a ton of cloth elves and told the kids how if the sun came up and they were still working on the tree, they turned into toys.
Our children are all 30ish now. I've asked if they felt we shouldn't have told them all the tales about fairies and Santa and Wally World (That's another tale - someday), and they replied "NO! We loved those stories and plan on telling the same things to our kids."
Granted, I had to create Santa Claus for our children but I still remember the night I caught a glimpse of him leaving the house.