Big Girly Bunny

Every year at this time, I find myself lying to my children again about the whole Easter Bunny story. Who came up with this character?...and what was he smoking? At least the Santa Claus story was thought out and makes sense...in a fairy-tale-way. But a bunny that breaks into every one's home and hides their eggs? At ages where questions need to be answered, my kids have lots of questions about the huge bunny and I have no answers.
Would I be a bad Dad by telling them it's all a hoax? Would telling the truth about the bunny carry-over to ruining Christmas? Would this increase the chances of my kids ending up in jail?
Another interesting foot note about the bunny in our family is that Caleb, 6, refers to the Easter Bunny in the feminine. "How does she get into the house?" Or "How does she get to every house in the world in one night?" When we asked him why he thought the Easter Bunny was a girl today, he held up a decorative bunny, wearing pastel-colored clothes, with pink and yellow flowers, and said in a matter-of-fact tone, "would a boy wear these clothes?" Well said my son, well said.