Believing in Santa Clause/Buying Gifts

[kymom99]

My son is 15 and the only big ticket items he has ever gotten for Christmas were an ipod touch about 5 yearsa go which he still has and uses daily, a "dumb phone" last year, and a guitar about 6 years ago which he now uses to play in school instrumental music class. Even if I had the money to get him new electronics every year, I wouldn't because to me it sends the wrong message.

Don't feel like you have to keep up their mom's way of celebrating Christmas just because of their belief in Santa. As others have said, start teaching them about giving to others. Also tell them that Santa won't bring anything unless you approve it, and you don't think they need new tablets, etc every year.

 

[Jaime4004]

I found it really depends on the school the kids go to, and how many older kids they hang out with, both in and out of school. In my daughters case, her classmates that knew Santa wasn't real were told by their parents not discuss it with their classmates or other kids at school. And they followed that rule - there was little to no discussion of it at school - it was a sort of "don't ask, don't tell" approach. It was just that sort of school - it probably helped that there was a wide range of religious backgrounds and so the school didn't call much attention to Christmas in classes. It also helped that it was a smaller school, that really put emphasis on the older kids watching out for and being sensitive to the needs of the younger kids and the kids were always mixed together.

So in DDs case, she didn't learn about Santa Claus from a classmate. She came about on her own questioning it, from inconsistencies in stories, differences in how families celebrated, etc. I covered up some of that with some really creative explanations but eventually it became obvious that even those weren't enough any more and it was time to tell her. But she was far past 6 when it became that time - it was at 10 I believe, possibly 9.

My 2 oldest are 9 and 11 (in 2 days) and are both believers, at the moment. Every year, as Christmas approaches, I think this will be the year they figure it out. My almost 11 yr old lost a tooth last night (seriously, how many more teeth can she have to lose?!) and was washing it, a little worried that the tooth fairy wouldn't want it with dried blood. She was very excited when she woke up to find that the tooth fairy took it. And she can't keep a secret to save her life, so when she figures it out, i'll know. She also has been around older kids for years (several days/week in gymnastics with kids 3-4 yrs older) and it's still not a problem. I think they know she's younger and treat her that way...