What age did your kids stop believing in Santa?

[CdnCarrie]

My kids in late teens still have never brought it up. And we never discussed Mickey not being real when we went to DL this summer either....Magic stays if you want it to stay....

 

[JediBonas]

My kids just turned 11, pretty sure my son still believes but my daughter doesn't. I think she likes that she's in on the "secret" and has enjoyed doing some Christmas shopping stuff with me now (like picking out everyone's special wrapping paper and stuff).
It was earlier this year when she was playing with something and I said "oh, did you get that from Santa last year?" and she gave me this look and said, as sarcastically as she could, "yhea, sure, Santa." LOL, that's when I realized she knew.

 

[ronandannette]

My kids in late teens still have never brought it up. And we never discussed Mickey not being real when we went to DL this summer either....Magic stays if you want it to stay....

There have been threads over the years about kids believing Disney characters are real and the difficulties in them finding out they’re not. That’s another thing that honestly never occurred to me. Maybe I’m just one of those unimaginative people that were mentioned up-thread.

 

[Mysterian]

What a nasty thing to say.

Denise W! It's been so long!

 

[Mysterian]

Go to sleep and hopefully you will forget everything you've read once you wake up.

It's too late. The damage is done. The pieces lay at my feet, crumbled like a Christmas tree cookie.
It will be a Hard-Candy Christmas, thanks to the DIS.

Ok full disclosure: I stopped believing in Santa at a very young age.

Hobgoblins however are very real.

FYI: Unlike possums, Hobgoblins apparently only have two nipples.

 

[Mango7100]

Well I thought we had one more year, but this weekend DD9 declared that she did not think he was real after a lot of thought and she just wished someone would tell her. She was almost getting upset that she couldn’t get a straight answer since we just kept saying “what do you think and why?” So we told her and she was totally fine, almost relieved that she was right and figured it out. She asked some questions.. We talked about he is a symbol for giving and kindness and not a literal person. Now she is excited because she is going to be Santa for our pets She wrote the guinea pigs a note telling them they have been good and asking what they want for Christmas

 

[jonny123]

I remember finding out when I was 8... caught my parents leaving the presents!

 

[Rick195275]

Yesterday She was 6 years old and 10 months when she stopped believing in Santa.

Did she come on here and read this thread?

 

[DLgal]

We told them in 1st grade. I remember the ridicule of the kids who still believed in Santa in school. 1st grade wasn't a big issue but it was by 2nd grade and definitely escalated in 3rd.

Sounds like you went to a school with a terrible group of students. No one in my elementary school was made fun of for believing in Santa. How sad.

 

[Notreallyaustralian]

It's too late. The damage is done. The pieces lay at my feet, crumbled like a Christmas tree cookie.
It will be a Hard-Candy Christmas, thanks to the DIS.

Ok full disclosure: I stopped believing in Santa at a very young age.

Hobgoblins however are very real.

FYI: Unlike possums, Hobgoblins apparently only have two nipples.

Of course they are real!!!!

 

[DodgerGirl]

If you were to ask a child about if Santa Claus was real or not the most possible answer your child would say would be yes. Because just like a child asks questions like "why is the sky blue" and others Santa Claus is probably one of the popular characters that gets a lot of questions about from children all around the world. My parents started doing Christmas since I was a little girl and every year I would get my photo with Santa until I was around 15 or 16 because my parents wanted me to believe in Santa Claus but I rarely wrote Christmas lists and still don't now. But I think in a few more years Christmas will get a new image and be more modernized and Santa Claus will get a new image too. Because if you look at Christmas today you rarely see Santa Claus in Christmas decor and merchandise and now it seems like Santa Claus is being replaced by The Elf On The Shelf and the only times you see Santa Claus in Christmas is photos and parade appearences. Because it used to be that Santa Claus was the symbol of Christmas and when you would see him making his debut in Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade at the end it was to remind people that Christmas is coming. But I truly believe that anyone can believe in Santa Claus and never stop believing no matter what age they are

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Because if you look at Christmas today you rarely see Santa Claus in Christmas decor and merchandise

Interesting because I'm on the hunt for some outdoor stake decor to put in a mulch bed. I'm really looking for winter rather than Christmas so it can stay up past Christmas and so much of what I find is Santa related.

 

[Jsharp13]

Such an interesting dichotomy - personalities of kids that naturally grow out of it, or appreciate parents working the spirit of Santa, vs. some kids that are soul crushed, angry, betrayed. Would love to do a case study of these personalities!

 

[Genie+]

Can’t remember why I stopped believing but I was the baby of 4 kids. It’s possible I never got much chance to truly believe with a brother 7 yrs older than me, lol.

For my kids I kept a separate crate of Santa supplies. It was handmade wrapping paper I got one year at IKEA 90% after holiday sale, along with boxes of bows and tags. Also used a calligraphy pen and special Santa hand writing.

I could tell the Christmas when my oldest at 8yo wasn’t buying it anymore. My husband couldn’t admit this somehow. Each year until oldest was 11yo he’d be like, yep he still believes. OK, it’s Christmas and you can believe that if you want. I’m not gonna tell you otherwise more than once hahaha.

 

[ttintagel]

We never did Santa in our family. I was an adult before I realized that other kids had believed he was an actual person and not just a folklore character. I don’t feel like I missed out on anything; I think it was even better to know that I was being given gifts by my parents who cared about me.