Is Rudolf real?

Alea asked me on the way home from school today if Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer really worked for Santa and if his nose is really red. I told her yes he really worked for Santa and that his nose was really red. She said, "Really? Really?" I asked what she meant. She asked if Rudolph was really real. She said she saw Rudolph on a cartoon. (She knows that cartoons aren't real.) I asked her if Santa was really real. She said, "Yes". I said, "Well, there you go." She seemed happy with that answer. Does that make me a bad mom? This is why I was skeptical of "doing Santa" in the first place. I don't like lying or misleading her. I know I am not the only mom to do this, but it still doesn't feel right. Any ideas?

I just told Davin this story, and he said she did something similar to him last week. She asked him if princesses were real. He told her that there are real princesses. She asked him if Cinderella was real. He told her that Cinderella was a character. (She knows that characters are people pretending to be someone like Elmo or Mickey Mouse. She figured that out on her own.) I guess this made her start whimpering. Then she started asking about all of the Disney princesses and got upset. Davin said, "So, don't fall for that trick."