Is Santa real?

[luvmysweeties]

Have you had this question yet or has your child/ren known all along?

How old was your child/ren when the question came up?

How did you answer, was your child/ren upset?

With Christmas fast approaching, I thought this might make an interesting topic.

[Tweak]

My kids still don't get the Santa thing but

and this is so stupid

I remember clearly the night I saw mum putting out the presents

I was 7 she sat me down and told me he wasn't real and I cried and cried and cried and yelled at her for being a liar lol

and from then on I would always search for the presents in mums wardrobe

I'm a little aprehensive about the Santa thing

They are 3 and we haven't really made a big deal about where the presents come from yet they just appear haha but I'm struggling to decide what to say

on one hand the lie is so magical
but on the other I was so peeved off when I learnt I was lied to

[Annabella]

My dd asked last year (7yo), I couldn't lie so asked her if she thought he was real, and she said yes and I left it at that. I think she prob suspects he's not real.

[Lemonhead]

My mum always told me Santa was just make believe. It didn't bother me, I appreciate her honesty. Mum was ultra paranoid about things like that...

I went to school and told everyone though :devil: and heaps of kids cried about it :o whoops lol.

[Refresh]

Santa has never been real in this house so something we wont have to deal with :)

[raining cats and dogs]

We have never told our girls all about Santa bringing them presents and all that, they know they get presents from us. The only thing they think about Santa is me wanting them to have pictures with him in the mall. They do give kinda funny looks when adults ask them what they want from Santa-their reply is that their mum and dad are their Santa.

[maestroandme]

Bahahaha DD is 16 yr and this will be her first chrissy without him she still "beleived " until she was 14.(wink wink)...... so funny cos she is so mature in most ways.

Any way when she used to ask we would just say Santa only comes to those that beleive in him...... when she said about friends not beleiving , I asked if they got pressies then they must really beleive inside and just dont want to look like uncool. Santa in the shops just looked different cos they were all helpers but you nener new when it would be the real santa....... oh boy as you can see I was big on all the child hood fantasies
. A little bit of magic.

She also had presents from us . Dh dressed up one year when she was 3....... DD said hi DAD in about 2 secs he was crushed baahahaha ......... Santa rocks.

Mind you christmas is very much about magic , giving to others and being thankful for friends and family in our house.

[JabberJaw]

:yes: Santas real....if you dont believe in Santa you get no prezzies :laughing:

I am 33 and still believe in him :p

[Boobycino]

I believed till I was 7 and it fell apart like a house of cards - I realized the tooth fairy wasn't real (mum gave me the money directly :rolleyes:) then it was like *pop* *pop* Easter bunny and Santa.

I believed so long because one night I stayed awake to see Easter bunny and so when 'something' snuck into my room when I was 5 I saw a bunny - it was very dark so I must have just seen what I wanted to see or I was asleep and dreaming but that restored my faith in the whole shebang.

If they ask I'd ask them do they believe? If they aren't sure or want to know I'd tell them, about St nickolas (sp) that be used to leave people gifts, but that was a very very long time ago so now mummy and daddy have to carry on in his place.

Maybe?

[blackdog]

We have always treated Santa as a fun myth.

We do all the traditional stuff like leaving a drink and bikkie for Santa on Christmas Eve, and a carrot and bucket of water for the reindeer...but we do it as a fun tradition rather than as something that is an absolute belief.

We have a big Christmas Party every year, and have one of the Dads play Santa. The kids have a ball!

[luvmysweeties]

We do the whole Santa thing.

I loved it as a kid. I found out when I was about 11 because I stayed awake to see Santa and saw my parents putting the presents under the tree. I don't remember being upset.

My DH said as long as we told the truth if they came and asked us if he was real, he was ok with the fantasy while they were young. He did not want to lie to them.

We got that very question from DD1 the other day. We think she's suspected it for a little while, but was probably worried what the answer would be. We sat her down and told her the story of St. Nick and talked about christmas spirit. We also mentioned we still enjoy the fantasy of Santa being real and it's ok for her to still have fun with it too.

She was a little sad he wasn't real at first, but is so very excited about this Christmas as we have now appointed her Helper Elf.

[KimInMellie]

She was a little sad he wasn't real at first, but is so very excited about this Christmas as we have now appointed her Helper Elf. I think that's a great way to take the edge off your DD's disappointment.

My DSS is 10 and still claims to believe in Santa, the Easter Bunny, & the tooth fairy. I suspect, though, that his belief comes at least partially from a fear that he won't receive pressies/eggs/money if he acknowledges that he doesn't quite believe in them completely anymore. :)

[Pinkzy]

I was 9 when I found out Santa wasn't real, as silly as it sounds I still think back to that day and get sad. I was in grade 4 and our religion teacher was teaching us the usual stuff but then the topic changed to Xmas. A few people in my class had been teasing me about believing in Santa, so I thought to myself "well I'll show them all by asking the teacher to about it"...so I stuck up my hand and asked her if Santa was real. She laughed at me and told me "No, Santa Claus is a big joke and you're what? nine years old? Time to grow up, my dear. Mum and dad put the presents under the tree"....my jaw dropped and my eyes filled with tears and I'll never forget how my teacher (Mrs J) yelled at the b*tch for it in front of everyone. Unfortunately most of the kids laughed at me instead of the religion teacher getting into huge trouble. Mum demanded that I do other activities instead of religion from then on.

My 8 year old still thinks he's real and her dad and I plan on keeping it that way...we really hope she finds out in a less traumatic way than I did :(

[blackdog]

Our take on the Santa thing is that we understand the origin of the tradition and the importance of ritual and the fun of pretending :D

[loving6]

Have you had this question yet or has your child/ren known all along? Yes have got it a few times.

How old was your child/ren when the question came up? Usually pre school

How did you answer, was your child/ren upset? We told them the truth, he was a man who lived hundred of years ago and his name was St Nick etc. We go into the whole story of St Nick. Then we tell them that now people like to dress up and play Santa and give kids gifts.
They have never been upset as we have never told them that he was real.

[angcaltam]

Our 2 boys have started asking questions this yr about the tooth fairy and santa but after recieving a letter from santa they now say they believe, so i'm just hoping to get this xmas with all 3 kids still believing in Santa, then I think we will have to tell them so they dont tell their little sister that they aren't real...... Oh and our boys are 8 and 10 yrs of age.

[veve]

Jack is five - and this year is the first year he has questioned it...

I responded with "do you think he is real?" .. he thought for awhile and then said yes.

I then said to him - you know how not everyone believes in God?? and that is their choice and its ok? (its something we have discussed before - that different people believe different things) ... its kinda like that .. not everyone believes in santa ... but if you dont believe in him, then no presents under the tree will be from him.

I think believing in Santa makes Christmas just that much more magical ... *shrugs* so I dont discourage the belief .. I'm sure one day he will tell me to stop pretending mum .. lol

[meme]

I remember one christmas walking down the street with dd adn there were some teenagers yelling out that santa isn't real and dd looks at me and says " if they don't believe in him, they won't get any presents". She was about 4/5 years old then and is now 14 and at some point has worked out that I do the presents. But we have never really spoken about it and still do nto outwardly mention about it. we still refer to santa...

nothing has come from the younger girls yet.

I also still believe in magic and santa is part of that magic at christmas for me.

[ElastiGirl]

ok, so here is my crafty story to my DD when she was young.

Santa is real in our house. (our Santa gives one gift each xmas)
She has always believed in him, not from my doing, but from around. So when she asked me cunningly one year to test what I knew about him and to suss out if what her friend said (that he was not real) to be true.

My response was:

When you are born at the hospital you are given a parent pack. In the parent pack are your birth registration forms and some other important documents along with Santa's private mobile number. You need to text Santa when a new child is born so that he knows to send a present every year. Because Santa is so busy, this arrangement last until the child is 10 years of age, after which the parents will take over.

Every year on the first of December, I text Santa to tell him how you are going, and what it is you would like for Xmas. If you have been good and helpful then in the morning, your present will be there. If not, then no present.

Of course she always got a present.

She is 11 now and STILL believes.

Recently, when her little sister was born, the first thing she said to me when we got home was "Have you called Santa to let him know that A***** was born? because I don't want her to miss out on getting a present mum"

I was a bit taken a back but managed to nod my head and say of course! I think I was shocked that she still remembered everything I told her about the parents arrangements with Santa and a little bit stumped that she still believed it.

[AllBoys4Bessy]

Ive been woundering about it. my DS1 and 2 are really excited about Christmas this year and they get so excited when they see Santa in the shopping centre's. Im wondering how long it will last.
I remember finding out when I was about 7, my sister and I was spying on the tree to see who put them there. but we never let on to Mum because I thought we wouldnt get anymore pressies. I must have done a good job because the other day my cousin was having a joke and said that I believed untill I was 14 lol



I went to school and told everyone though :devil: and heaps of kids cried about it :o whoops lol.

couldn't help but laugh at the :devil: I would have cried too I think



If they ask I'd ask them do they believe? If they aren't sure or want to know I'd tell them, about St nickolas (sp) that be used to leave people gifts, but that was a very very long time ago so now mummy and daddy have to carry on in his place.

Maybe?
I like that, good Idea


...so I stuck up my hand and asked her if Santa was real. She laughed at me and told me "No, Santa Claus is a big joke and you're what? nine years old? Time to grow up, my dear. Mum and dad put the presents under the tree
Thats aweful, what a nasty teacher! she should of said ask your parents.

[melinc]

My kids still don't get the Santa thing but

and this is so stupid

I remember clearly the night I saw mum putting out the presents

I was 7 she sat me down and told me he wasn't real and I cried and cried and cried and yelled at her for being a liar lol

and from then on I would always search for the presents in mums wardrobe

I'm a little aprehensive about the Santa thing

They are 3 and we haven't really made a big deal about where the presents come from yet they just appear haha but I'm struggling to decide what to say

on one hand the lie is so magical
but on the other I was so peeved off when I learnt I was lied to

This sums up exactly how I feel. And your childhood story is almost identical to mine!
I have a 4 and 2 year old and never really made a fuss about Santa either - my 4 year old
still doesn't want to go anywhere near Santa in the shopping centre.

We do fill up their Santa Sacks and leave them under the tree and have fun going thru them
the next day, but it was really only our first year last year at doing that.

I do dread the question tho, and have no idea how I will handle it when my older child asks me.
I do feel tho, I just won't have it in me to lie about it. Your last two sentences sum up my feelings exactly! Maybe we need councelling LOL

[mimsie]

Ohhh I LOVE the age cut off. My kids think the parent pack at the hospital gives you Santa's phone number. My DS is so smart and fact-based but he believes in Santa :o basically he thinks that there is no way we could have afforded some of the things they have gotten so he HAS to be real. DD is generally more skeptical but even she believes at the moment because I did videos online last year and she's bought right into the whole 'it was personal and therefore its real'.

With DS starting high school in 2012 we've had that oooh think this needs to be the last year we can let him believe, we can't send him to high school thinking its real, can we? We didn't mean for it to last so long or get so hard :eek:

[Blueberry Crumble]

I was 9 or 10. I can clearly remember asking mum if he was real. She looked disappointed and said no, and we had a little chat. I was not upset, I certainly dont remember crying over it, maybe it depends on the personality of the child how deeply they are affected?