Question regarding Easter Bunny, Santa, etc....

[tiggerlover]

Question regarding Easter Bunny, Santa, etc....

Do you tell or do you wait until they figure it out? DS is in his last year of elementary school and DH thinks this is the last year, that we need to tell before DS goes to middle school. DH said I should ask the DIS, so what do you think?

 

[Hedy]

I was told, and it did not go well. I'm kind of inclined to say let him figure it out, unless he asks or something similar.

 

[ElizK]

I'd be willing to bet that he knows. I never admitted to my mom that I figured Santa out when I was 11. I always just played along. I still do, and I'm 38!

 

[tiggerlover]

The reason this came up is because DS (10-1/2) said that he would know the Easter Bunny is real if he comes to our house while we are at WDW. I asked him why and he said than that would prove that his friends (that say the parents are responsible) are wrong because we will be with him in FL and we can't hide eggs if we are with him.

 

[ilovejack02]

The reason this came up is because DS (10-1/2) said that he would know the Easter Bunny is real if he comes to our house while we are at WDW. I asked him why and he said than that would prove that his friends (that say the parents are responsible) are wrong because we will be with him in FL and we can't hide eggs if we are with him.

AWWW I would tell him, but I sure would have a basket waiting for him when he got home lol. Im a sucker like that. Im amazed he still believes!

 

[tiggerlover]

I was going to do a small basket for WDW with some chocolate and Disney Dollars, then I was going to have a friend of mine hide eggs and DS's basket at our house while we are gone. But DH isn't so sure.

 

[soccerfreak_08]

I(now 17) found out in like kindergarten or 1st grade but didnt tell my parents for a few years so I would still get presents. lol. You may be surprised to find out he already knows. If he doesnt it would be the nicer thing to let him know. Kids can be really mean...

 

[CanBeGrumpy]

I told my Ds when he was 9 for 2 reasons: first, I didn't want him to be put in an awkward position at school when kids start discussing the truth. Second, frankly I was getting tired of the farce, and I felt it was time he knew the truth. As he got older, it felt more like "lying" than "playing". I have a younger son who is about to turn 8, and I am so hoping he figures it out soon. I will say that for days, maybe even weeks, after I told my son, I was traumatized and I thought I had ruined his life. I still don't know if I did the right thing. However, at your son's age, (I assume your son is/will be 12 soon) I really feel a child should be told if he/she really still believes. Middle school kids are vicious!!

 

[KrnB]

I voted to tell him, as middle school can be tough. If his friends found out he still believed, he'd probably get picked on pretty bad.

I found out in 4th grade, my first year at a new school. Everyone else had found out a couple years earlier when one of the kids found out and told everyone else. I tried to play it cool at school, but I cried when I went home. I did, however, continue to receive stockings from "Santa" until this past Christmas. Now that I'm a mom, I don't get presents from him anymore.

I don't know that there's a good way to do it, really. I think telling the story of the real St. Nick is a good start though - that parents continue the tradition to show the wonders of giving.

There's a good chance he knows already though. We stopped doing Santa for DStepS this year because we knew that he knew. He never said anything, but we got that feeling so we asked, and sure enough...

Interestingly, he told us that we shouldn't do the "Santa thing" with my now 1 year old twin DSs because he wasn't real.

 

[dreamcometrue]

not sure what age I found out the truth, but I never told my parents. At some point, my parents knew that I knew, but we never said anything to each other...it was just fun to keep Santa "alive".

My DS is 11 now and I think he knows the truth, although he is playing like he doesn't. But that's exactly what I did!

I say let it be...they will figure it out, no doubt. But it will be fun for them to play along! I will NEVER come out and flat out say that there is no Santa/Easter Buny/tooth fairy!

 

[mamacatnv]

Whats to tell?

 

[midge3426]

My DS 17 never asked if Santa was real, but I know he has not believed for quite a few years. My DD 10 last year confronted me with the big question about Santa. Your son probably knows so I would let it go.

 

[kristen821]

I would tell him so he isn't made fun of.

 

[Tinks_gang]

Middle School can be rough...I'd be sure to tell him before then. Besides, his friends are already discussing it so I am sure he has his doubts. It's sad we ever have to stop believing...

 

[mickeyfan2]

The reason this came up is because DS (10-1/2) said that he would know the Easter Bunny is real if he comes to our house while we are at WDW. I asked him why and he said than that would prove that his friends (that say the parents are responsible) are wrong because we will be with him in FL and we can't hide eggs if we are with him.

This has TEST written all over it. He knows there is no Easter Bunny. I figured it out when I was 8. I did these kinds of tests and finally my Mom told me the truth. I was not upset, but told to not tell others. No big deal. Tell him now.

ETA: When my nephew was 9 he kept hinting that there was not Santa. His sister was 2 at the time. My brother forbid my SIL from telling him, but he did not forbid me. My SIL asked me to talk to my nephew and see if he really new and if so to tell him. We talked for about a minute and then he said I know that mom and dad are Santa. I then asked him why he did not admit it. He said he was afraid he would not get any presents. I told him that I knew by his age and you still get presents. I then told him that he would be a big help to his mom. He could distract his little sister when his Mom was buying her presents. He was so happy. He said it was stressful pretending.

 

[pixiechick]

I voted to tell.
My story is similar to yours.

We just went through this after Christmas with DS, 11 in 5th grade. We were at WDW for the holidays. When we returned, a friend asked what he had gotten for Christmas. During the conversation, they discussed Santa, resulting in his friend telling him to ask his parents "the truth". That night, DS did. I hestitated and tried to avoid a straight answer. He went on to tell me that prior to Christmas he had argued with a 6th grade boy over Santa's existance. I knew I couldn't avoid the discussion any further. I was holding back tears when I asked him, "How would you feel if I told you I buy your gifts?" His reply, "Santa's gifts come from Walmart?!" He was upset, but joked about it. We went on to discuss the Easter bunny, etc. He was really funny at one point and said, "Don't even talk to me about Mickey."

I swore he knew and was humoring me. He didn't.

 

[TheGoofster]

For us it was never an issue. My son figured out that there was no Santa when he was four years old. We never encourage him to or not to believe, he just came to the conclusion when he was four that it was mommy and daddy who brought his toys and not Santa. We figured that if he didn't believe in Santa there was no reason to tell him otherwise. If he hadn't come to this conclusion, we probably would have played the Santa game for a few more years. He also was sure to enlighten his sister when she was about four as well.

 

[rt2dz]

My parents never told us, although when we came to them (about 4th grade) they didn't try and pretend it was real--on Santa. The Easter Bunny was a much earlier age that we figured that one out.

I'm not sure how your district is set up. Here elementary is K-4, intermediate is 5 & 6, middle school is 7 & 8 and high school is pretty much 9-12 (one area/section of our district is 9th grade campus and HS 10-12).

I'm 85% in the camp on let him believe until he figures it out. I'm 15% in the camp of tell him before middle school. That could cause many problems with his peers if you let him believe that long.

Maybe you could tell him a great, big bunny doesn't actually exist. Santa, after all, is a person. And a real one you could research!!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

My kids just are not that trusting. By 3rd grade they pretty much knew it was all a ruse.

OK...it probably did start with the tooth fairy stuff... That darn tooth fairy keep forgetting!

So...other....I would have a sit down now.

 

[sPaRkLeSpAz]

Well, I'm 18 and I figured out about the Easter Bunny when I was 9.. I kept believing in Santa till I was 11 though, lol. But I still act like I think Santa is real to my mom and dad and stuff. =]. I think you should let him believe for as long as possible.