The kids presents were delivered yesterday. They got delivered while I was away picking up the kids. Next door took them in. As we walked into the cul-de-sac where we stay next door’s kid runs up and shouts we’ve got a couple of bikes that have been delivered for you. Grrrr.

My kids didn’t seem surprised in any way that they had been delivered nor did they mention Santa.

So, have they just been kidding me on with all this Santa stuff and they know that he doesn’t exist?

Also, what’s a suitable punishment for next door’s kid? I dont need a new patio.

Undo the brakes on the next door kids bikes!!

My kids are 7 and 5, I reckon the 5 year old still believes but i’m not sure about the seven year old.

It’s going to be hard this year to keep them believing though, as this year we have to drive down to the Pyrenees with all the pressies for ours and my sisters kids in the car!!

Also, what’s a suitable punishment for next door’s kid? I dont need a new patio.

Tell him he was adopted.

What!? What do you mean “stop believing”? Are you saying he’s not real? 😥

We tell our girls that we buy them presents and that they buy them for each other etc but Father Christmas also brings his own presents – stops them wondering why there is a pile of bags on top of our wardrobe 🙂

(6.5 years old and still believe)

My eldest is 10, he still believes in Father Christmas almost in spite of himself – I think he’s at a point where it’s preferable to believe than not. I’m in no rush to burst his bubble either, once the Father Christmas thing passed in my house when I was a kid Christmas (and the 3 months leading up to it) became a horrible drawn out negotiation and argument about what I was getting, also our youngest is only 18 months, I’m hoping to keep it going long enough that he’s mature enough to not spoil it for her.

She just like laughing at the Christmas lights and hugging stuffed tigers when we go shopping, it’s brilliant!

5.5 year old said last night as she was going to bed “I think it might just be the grown ups” 🙁

Too smart for her own good that one 😀

She was just testing the water though and we neither confirmed or denied it.
If she asks us out straight then I won’t lie to her – I have a whole “Santa is more of an idea” speech worked out in my head*

.

* Coincidentally the same speech I have ready for God questions: “Well a big magical guy that sees everything everywhere and rewards us for being good would be nice, but…”

I think he’s at a point where it’s preferable to believe than not

part of the human condition innit?
ours are 4 and 6, 4yo still believes not sure about 6yo, dunno if he’s getting suspicious, but if he reckons there’s toys in it for him I’m sure he’ll play along for a good while yet.

when i was 41 :/

best trick i heard was when my friends parents bought her the same present twice – once from them and once from ‘santa’.

“See? That proves it can’t be us – because why would we have bought you the same present twice?”

Bought them an extra year or two 😆

Last year my lad aged 8 said he believed, but I think he was edging his bets just in case! He definitely doesn’t believe this year hope he’s not too disappointed come the big day.
He decided God didn’t exist at 5, having read a book about the universe including the big bang at school. Possibly an oversight by his C of E Infants school there?

I was always highly dubious about it, from as early as I can remember I thought it was a load of tosh. I can’t imagine any kids ever really do believe in it TBH

I told mine when they were around 10 years old. I think that they may have suspected before that but kept on “believing” to be on the safe side.

you think no kids believe?

FWIW their imagination is not as poor as yours
No idea I never mention him so not sure if they ever believed tbh

For what it’s worth Decathlon’s own brand BMXs are an absolute steal for the money.

I don’t have kids. The girlfriend however admitted yesterday that she was ten before she realised it was all a lie. I laughed. Lucky there’s nothing I want for Christmas as I think I’ll be getting absolutely **** all now

My two are 17 and 14. Not sure when they stopped believing, probably about 7 or 8. However when asked I said “IF you don’t believe in Santa then don’t write a nice letter to him and see if you still get presents”.
They both still write a letter even now!

We’re currently keeping the eight year old in suspense, though there are rumours going round the classroom that ‘apparently’ its just made up.

you think no kids believe?

FWIW their imagination is not as poor as yours

I’ve got a fantastic imagination. I’m just intelligent and can make my own judgement. One of my earliest memories is getting up on my own about 5am on Christmas morning to unwrap my own presents, which I knew my mum and dad had put out after I went to bed. I must have been about 4, but it was pretty obvious to me! (I got in trouble for that!) Same with religion. I was brought up CofE but I worked out that was a load of piffle as I was introduced to it, then spent another 10 years going along with it as that was what my parents expected.
And the tooth fairy, that was just a good way of getting 20p!
Anything for a quiet life, really, and if there’s was something in it for me…..
It’s quite possible most children are the same IMO – They know it’s a load of crap, but they go along with it as they’re getting rewarded 🙂

I remember my sis and I conspiring as we didn’t want to spoil it for the Grown ups!

I just asked my 12 year old when she stopped believing and she said at about 7 or 8. And then backtracked that she still believes. Then admitted she’s just hoping to get more presents.

(I was under 8 when I knew it was my parents.)

Thought this thread title said Santa Cruz, and thought to myself – never for a lot of folks one here…

Something has changed with our twin, just about to turn 7

They are able to call out certain beliefs and whether they do or don’t believe in them. That includes god, jesus, unicorns, fairies and father christmas. They know that santas grottos are manned by either fake santas or santas helpers. We are not far away from them not believing. But we are OK for this year

Eldest was about 10 and the youngest is going to be the same.

They’ve seen us with wrapped presents for them before and they know we go Xmas shopping, we just tell them that Santa’s Elves will collect them and take them away. Same thing my parents told me.

It’s fun to believe. At the same time, when they do stop believing in his literal existence, one can always say that Father Christmas (or whatever you want to call him) is an embodiment of the spirit of giving, and warmth, and all those other good feelings that come at Christmas.

Then it is possible to believe in him still.

Yep, that’s pretty much the tack I’ll take SaxonRider.

Mind you, they both just watched Raymond Brigg’s “Father Christmas” and are now happily singing “Jump up on my sleigh, and we’re off on our way, for another bloomin’ Christmas” 🙂

I’ve never really understood the need to lie about it. Kids look to their parents as the source of everything that’s right in the world, it must be a hell of a shock to discover that the person you trust most in the entire world has systematically lied to you your entire life. Unless it’s supposed to be a ‘life lesson’ or something.

It’s probably a good job I don’t have kids…

I can not remember a time when I did believe. I do remember having to pretend for what seemed like many years to parents/grandparents that I did though to avoid upsetting them.

Think that’s why I hated Christmas then and still do!

There are lies and there are lies.

I guess the eldest was about 8 or 9, the youngest is a bit more worldly wise, so even though she’s only 9 now I think the real person thing is past.

When the eldest got to that point, we explained that Santa isn’t a person, Santa is a ‘thing’ – not a thing you can touch or see, but something that is definitely there, and for those that know but still believe, Santa is in all of us and together we’re all Santa Claus. And when they’re older, their kids will enjoy believing in the way she did when she was little and she’ll truly understand what Santa is rather than who he is.

Cougar – does love exist? Can you see it or touch it, or do you just feel its effect? Does that mean it isn’t real either?

My wife is the youngest of 3 kids. When the middle one told her there was no such thing as Father Christmas, he was told that if you don’t believe he doesn’t bring presents.

He woke up Christmas morning and was horrified to discover that Santa had not left him anything in the stocking on the end of his bed. Bit of a shock for a cocky 8 year old!

(Turns out Santa had mistakenly put his stocking in his mum and dads wardrobe. And he didn’t doubt Santas existence for a good few years after that)

theotherjonv – that is a great way of explaining it

We went along with it at first, but then when my eldest (now 6) started asking about it, I couldn’t pursue an elaborate deception nor tell her a flat out lie and I realised I didn’t want to. So I told her that it is a fun game. When she plays make believe she plays hard, so it doens’t matter that she knows it’s a game. It’s still fun.

We have also tried to explain the difference between Santa and Father Christmas.

I never really believed it as a kid, cos it makes no sense whatsoever and I am a rational creature! I still played along. My parents used to get us presents from them and presents from Santa too. Aged about 7 and 8 my sister and I thought we should get Santa presents for my parents. We made something from Blue Peter, and for the packaging we disagreed; my sister said my idea was rubbish because it would look homemade, and my parents would know it wasn’t from Santa….

I think she was consciously fooling herself to prolong her own innocence…

we explained that Santa isn’t a person, Santa is a ‘thing’ – not a thing you can touch or see, but something that is definitely there, and for those that know but still believe, Santa is in all of us and together we’re all Santa Claus.

s/Santa Clause/God

Molly.

Yes, if you want. I’m perfectly happy for this to be a directly transferrable means of explaining God too, if people feel they need to explain away some of the deeper mysteries of life.

Just please don’t claim it was Santa Claus who made you blow yourself up in a concert hall

On the broader subject of kids realising the mundane reality of life, this is an excellent book:

“Where Giants Hide”

It’s basically about a girl realising that giants, fairies, mermaids and dragons don’t really exist… except in her imagination, and that’s okay.

WTF OP, ever heard of a spoiler warning? 🙁

😉

Stopped believing in Santa Cruz in 08 – overpriced stuff; still believing in the fictional dude…for now…

Cougar – does love exist? Can you see it or touch it, or do you just feel its effect? Does that mean it isn’t real either?

Sure. It’s the delusion that one person is better than all the rest (-:

I told her that it is a fun game. When she plays make believe she plays hard, so it doens’t matter that she knows it’s a game. It’s still fun.

That’s great, fair play.

Broke it to young smith last year , he was 11 , thought he could not be going to senior school not knowing, he was devastated , we were all the sods under the sun , it was pure hatred that we`d lied to him, not a nice experience, he came home yesterday and said Danny and Eddie are full on believers, “have you said out to them” “no way I know how bad i was with you, their parents can tell them”

I kept up the deception for the benefit of my parents and younger siblings. The cat was finally out the bag when I mentioned a teacher at High School saying we were all old enough to know Santa wasn’t real. I had to properly beg my mother not to write a letter to the school complaining about my shattered innocence.