Does Santa still come to your house?

[cruisnfamily]

Inspired by the Christmas gifts thread.

I wondered at what age your child no longer expected "santa" to be the one bringing the gifts. DD is 11 and last year she still believed....she got a hard time from her friends and questioned me quite a bit but she basically thinks they're all pretty dumb because Santa must be real. I think it boils down to the fact that she wants there to be a Santa and is willing to believe despite what she hears...she's kind of clinging to it. I think this will probably be the year that the cat is out of the bag although it hasn't come up yet.

So, what at what age did "Santa" come out of the bag for your kids?

 

[Big V]

My DD will be 11 next month and your DD is the exact same way ours is! I'm sure in their hearts they know the answer.

 

[Pin Wizard]

Santa came out of the bag for DS in 1st grade! He had his suspicions, and I just confirmed them. Now he's in 5th grade and has friends who still believe in Santa. I find that unbelievable! Most of them have younger siblings or are onlies.

 

[TEENEE]

My ds is 12 and hasn't said that he doesn't believe. I know he knows that truth but he doesn't let on because my dd (8) believes. Let's face is, as long as he believes he gets extra gifts. He's no fool.

 

[Allie322]

My older daughter is 11 and last year she let me know that she was on to us! My younger daughter is 9 and I'm pretty sure we still have her in our Santa grasp!

 

[CEDmom]

DD is only 4 so of course she still believes. Just yesterday she was asking how to get a letter to Santa all the way in the North Pole. In this day and age with kids growing up so fast I think it's nice that some are holding on to this innocence into late childhood. As DD gets older I have no intention of hurrying along her understanding of Santa.

 

[Jodi1980]

My daughter is 16 years old and doesn't believe but on Christmas morning for the rest of my life, there will be a gift from Santa under the tree for her!

 

[Dizzy-Disney4]

DS is 10 and asked last year...I told him the truth even though my heart was breaking because every child in our neighborhood (its small) told him we were lying to him. I told him Santa was a more of a wonderful feeling that comes into us (or most of us) at the holiday time and makes us all feel magical. So even though Santa may not be a man, the spirit of Santa lives in us all...if we let him. So in a way he is real He seemed ok with it and one of the first things he said was he knew he wanted to make sure Santa lived in him and that he would help bring Santa to his little sister. It was still a very magical time for him...so Santa has survived in our house.

 

[circus slim]

My youngest is 10 and is transitioning....

I think she's holding on to that belief just in case....

She's the youngest of three, so I'm sure she'll stop before the other two did....

We're hoping to get one more Christmas with Santa.

 

[scarlett873]

let's see...i'm 30, my sister is 25, and my brother is 23...and santa still comes to my parent's house!!!

i was messed up for a long time about santa. about the age i began to question his existence, my parents pulled a doozie over on me! i was about 6 and my sister was going on 2, and my mom was pregnant with my brother. it was christmas eve and my mom came into our room to wake us up. she said we had to see something, but we had to be quiet...so we tiptoed down the hall and peeked around the corner. we saw "santa" emptying his bag by the tree, my mom was right beside us, and my dad was sleeping on the couch! it messed with my head for YEARS...i was probably about 11 or 12 when i finally realized the truth! but i was never formally told...it just became assumed. it was a few years later that i "helped" put out santa gifts for my brother and sister, but i never said a word to them...i didn't want to spoil the spirit of it all for them!

as i said, we are now fully grown adults, but santa still visits every christmas. over the years, the santa presents have dwindled while the gifts from mom and dad have grown, but he never forgets us or our spouses!!

 

[LarryE]

24 and I still believe

I've never understood why people and some parents would make their kids stop believing in something so magical, just because some ppl don't see it, that doesn't mean it doesn't exist

 

[MAC3]

My DD was 10 when the 15 yr old sibling of a friend told her. I was very sad! It sure is a sad day!

 

[Miss Jasmine]

My kids (actually stepkids, but I hate that word) don't believe anymore. They are 10 and 11 and last Christmas was the first one without Santa. When (and if) DH and I have a baby, we have already decided not to do the Santa thing. And believe me, just cuz the kids knew about Santa, they still got just as many things. And actually it was more fun for us, because they know it's from us and they appreciate it even more.

 

[MerryPoppins]

He still comes to my house. I hope he always will.

My kids have always heard from us that Santa is the spirit of Christmas. When they got older, I encouraged them to have Santa in their hearts and "be" Santa for others. We started adopting a child or family for Christmas and we discussed how good it made us feel to "be" Santa.

We've never actually discussed who buys the Santa gifts, but I'm sure the kids know. The gifts are always what they wanted the most and they arrive while we are at church services on Christmas Eve. The mystery is part of the fun.

 

[Patabel]

DD, Krnb, is 27 and married, and Santa still manages to fill her stocking that's hung up at my house! He even manages to fill one for DSIL, Joe! Imagine that!

 

[LadyAurora]

My stepsons are 11, and Santa still comes to our house. He is very careful not to use the same wrapping paper that I buy, or the same tags, and he makes sure his handwriting doesn't look the same as mine, etc. I'm not sure if the boys still believe in him, but Santa still tries his best! They haven't asked yet, and they do have two younger siblings at their mother's house. Hopefully, they all still believe.
Sometimes, when I am feeling cynical, I think that they probably don't care. And with two homes, the boys never have that mystery of going to bed with only presents from us, and awakening to presents from Santa.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Lady Aurora, I don't know if this is possible with your boys or not, but on the years when we don't have the kids on Christmas Day, we have them on Christmas Eve. They actually come over the night before, so we just move Christmas up a day. When they wake up Christmas Eve morning their gifts are under the tree. Even though they no longer believe, we still don't put out the presents until after they are asleep. They usually go back to their moms right before dinner time Christmas Eve. It works out so nicely for all involved!

 

[MJames41]

If there wasn't a Santa, that would mean someone else (me) would have to wrap all the presents. Long live Santa!

 

[mamamia]

My DS (10 1/2 ) and DS (8) still believe. My DD (almost 13) stopped believing in spring of 3rd grade - i guess she was 9 or so. We were at the mall visiting the Easter Bunny and then we went to eat at the food court. While we were eating she turned to me and asked "the question". Of course I told my DH that he should take the boys to the bathroom (they were still so little) and I asked her to repeat her question. When she did, I simply asked her what she thought. Then I just confirmed it for her. I told her that the "magic of the season" is real and that its about people being nice to each other, etc. I also told her that she couldn't tell anyone she knew and she hasn't. She enjoys helping me. I don't let her do too much.

I am a little surprised that my older DS still believes. My in-laws think I should tell him. I don't feel comfortable with that. If he asks me, I won't lie to him. We sort of discussed it last year and he basically decided his friends were not too smart and that Santa probably wouldn't come to them anyway because they didn't believe in him.

Also, as a side note: when my nephew was in 4th grade he asked my sister if Santa was real or not and before she could answer him he started screaming "no, no, don't tell me, I don't want to know" and he's never asked again (he's 14 now)

 

[christinou]

My older 8, knows about the spirit of christmas, and know that we are Santa, but she believes in the Easter Bunny.....