Is Santa Real? - Minneapolis,MN

Santa is real in my house...unless I die between now and Christmas, everything will be fine. (my daughter is 18). She learned the truth and loved helping to carry on the magic to her much younger cousins, She had it all to herself for almost five years. She never thought a "parent" could make all that magic happen :D

My dad sat me down and told me the truth one Oct day.....and it kinda ruined my day at 9 . I was kinda devestated.
My kids are welcome to believe as long as they want and hide it when they know . In another words..... we just don't talk about it......... it is just magical.

Ugh.
I am going to keep most of my thoughts about this to myself.
I have kids 10 years apart.
There was never any talk in my house about Santa not being real.
If my daughter had ruined it for my son...she would have been shipped to Siberia with a one way ticket.

My kids are now 25 and 16. They aren't stupid. They also happily get things from Santa every year and there has never been a debate except for when they were younger and other kids constantly told them there was no such thing as Santa.
Ironically, "Santa" never visited those kids so mine were and are still happy to play right along.

To this day, I've never told my kids that Santa isn't "real".
They aren't traumatized...they never felt they can't trust me for life because I "lied" to them.

Christmas Eve, my 16 year old will go into his room and he won't come out if he hears rustling around at some strange hour of the night or very early morning. If he busts me, why would I try surprising him anymore?

Like I said, he's got a sister 10 years older and now he has a baby nephew who just had his first Thanksgiving today. Santa will definitely be arriving this Christmas.

That's just my take on things.
I have never told my kids Santa isn't real, nor have they ever uttered those words to me.

Um, no you don't tell them.
That WILL BE the horrible. THAT will be the horrible memory.
You have to let them come to it on their own and they will.
Don't ruin the magic FOR them.
They will definitely come to it on their own.
It ruins the magic of Christmas.
I still enjoy Christmas BUT it is definitely not the same as when I was a
kid and believed in Santa.
It DID not make me mistrust my parents. If they didn't pay their taxes,
THAT would make me distrust them. Things like that. I remember
thinking how loving & cute for the all the trouble they went through. I
thought what a hassle but now that I have kids....I love doing it. ;)

Hi J.-

Perhaps I am a "bad' mom...I had a boatload of kiddos...and as each 'oldest' became aware of 'santa/mom & dad'...I incorporated them as 'santa's helpers.

One of my youngest (a twin with developmental delays) still believes...lol

NOW we all (sibs and myself) have such fun with her...and the magic not only of 'santa'...but of the season in general...

It gives ALL around us joy.

NONE of my kids feels 'horrible'...they absolutely enjoy sharing the spirit of christmas with all!!

Hoping you and yours do as well!!

Best luck!!
michele/cat

We figured it out over time, it wasn't a big crushing realization! No horrible memories or distrust of our parents :-)

Young children's minds believe in make-believe and as they grow up, their thinking changes until they can understand the difference between pretend and "real".

Our parents did not ever tell us Santa wasn't real, and we continued getting presents label "from Santa" our whole lives! I intend to do the same for my daughter, though at 9, she has figured it out.

Don't tell them. Why suck that little joy out of the holiday?

I let my son come to the natural conclusion that Santa Claus was not real on his own. Kids talk at school, etc., and the realization will come naturally and not be so crushing.

He and I both kept the myth alive for each others holiday enjoyment until he was about 13 - I swear - Santa was, and is, kinda' a running thing in our house. He will point out something outrageously expensive that he "wants" and when I say "Nope" he says "Well then, I will just ask Santa to bring it". Too funny.

What you can begin to do is discuss Christmas stories and traditions with your child. These will lead to open thinking about the myths and truths of the holiday, its origins, and it can be fun learning about different cultures holiday traditions.

Have a wonderful holiday season!!!!

They will figure it out on their own. Usually 8 - 9 years old..

Let them discover and ask. I loved figuring it out and being able to carry it as a secret for my younger sister.

Why don't you just let them come to it on their own? I did and it wasn't so horrible. I think it would have been far worse for my parents to decide when they thought I should know and sit me down and tell me. Personally, at our house and when my mom was alive at hers -Santa is real, and if you don't believe, you won't receive! Sure, they'll get the fact at some point that there's not an actual old man flying all over the world dropping presents down chimneys, but the magic and message of giving and joy should always be there. I believe in that completely -and I'm 41!

I don't remember ever believing Santa was real. When I was 5, my mother sat me down to talk to me. She started to cry and I couldn't imagine what was wrong. Then she said she had to tell me Santa wasn't real. If I had believed, I think that would have been traumatizing.
I never told my boys he was or wasn't real. When they would ask, I would just turn the question back to them and ask what they thought.
They are 17 and 20 now and they still get presents from Santa.

I remember when I learned Santa wasn't real. It explained why Santa's writing and my mom's looked the same. I had been wondering for a while about that one! I wasn't devastated and I didn't mistrust my parents after that. My sons found out when they caught my husband and I putting presents under the tree for them one fine Christmas Eve.

In our family, it's the multi-generational family chuckle.

You know I asked a similar question a few months ago, and I loved the answers I got. Most of the mamas told me to never tell the kids santa isn't real. And I wish no one had ever told me. It really broke my heart, instead of me just finding out on my own. Don't take the joy away from them. If they ask you questions say What do you think, ect? Have a happy holiday!

My mom never told me, my friends did at school. I probably was around 9. I don't think I ever asked my mom about it. I refused to believe that he wasn't real. I still believe. At my age, I still ask my mom to put "from santa" on my gifts.

My opinion: let the kids figure it out for themselves! When they are ready to hear it, they start bugging you with questions about whether Santa is really real. When my kids asked me, I never flat out told them no. But they figured it out.

I don't see the point of just randomly telling them one day, but everyone disagrees on this topic.

All of my kids didn't figure it out until between 4th & 5th grade Christmas. I, like Shane, have never uttered the words "Santa isn't real."

No, I didn't feel that I was lied to, tricked or anything to cause mistrust of my parents. You see Santa is magical, he is real but he isn't a person he is a feeling, a show of love and peace, a spirit. Like other say, Santa was a real person, maybe not the jolly ol' elf in the red suit like we see him in the stores but how sad to think of not having Santa to add to the magic of Christmas. We took my 1 year old grandson to see Santa for the first time yesterday. It was so fun to see his reaction and how excited he gets. To miss out on that innocent excitement, you are missing out on wonderful memories. By the time they are old enough to start questioning, I ask them what they think. If they still want to believe then I tell them to follow their hearts. If they don't believe I tell them that is ok but we need to keep the magic going for the younger kids. This makes them feel really important and grown up. I remember when I found out there wasn't a Santa, my little brother found the gifts. I wasn't upset, I wasn't hurt or angry, I was surprised is all.

i would never "tell". they will hear it from classmates or friends eventually...i think to me it came gradually and one year (i have 3 younger siblings) i just accepted it and realized that to them it was still real so i didn't say anything. no huge deal. let them believe as long as they can...they only get to be little for such a short time. happy holidays!

my mom explained to us at an early age about Saint Nicholas, the historical figure. and in our family we promote what christmas is christ based not all about santa

I don't plan on saying a word. If she asks I might tell her and ask her to not tell him, but I think she will use it as ammunition though when they are having an argument so I may put her off until he is getting to the same point.

I don't want to be cruel. My parents never did the Santa thing. My sister one time (about 10 years old) said "oh, look what Santa got us" (meanwhile my parents bought the gifts for us and we knew. I turned to my sisters and said, "what, are you kidding, what Santa?" I, in a way destroyed the belief in santa that day.Not intentionally, really. Her own kids are now 11 years old and she doesn't have the heart to tell them there is no santa.
To my own children: I never mention how santa will come down the chimney and leave gifts to them. I always say that their gifts will come from friends and family. I don't think they truly believe there is one either. Sorry, about this.
Let the kids figure it out for themselves...

In my opinion Xmas loses some of its "magic" when the kids no longer believe in Santa. My teens recently confessed that they knew Santa was make-believe for a good couple of years before I "confessed". They said that they were "humouring" me cos I was so into the whole "Santa" gig! :) I think on some level kids know that the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny & Santa are make-believe but its just so much fun to play along! Tell your hubby to not be a spoil sport and play along for as long as your kids let you! A couple of the "difficult" questions I "fielded" along the way were about the different Santas in Dept Stores. I told them that the REAL Santa can't be seen cos he only comes out to deliver presents when all the kids are asleep on Xmas Eve and these are just guys dressed up to help Santa out. Watching Xmas movies also helps you get more ideas on how to "prove" that Santa DOES exist no matter what anybody else says! :) I wish you as many years as possible of Xmas Magic before you have to put up the "know-it-all" teens! :)

I figured it out on my own, as did both of my boys. My husband wasn't big into the Santa thing because he didn't grow up with it, but he went along with it to appease me. I had absolutely no trust issues with my parents because of it. I thought it was sweet my mom put so much effort into it. I was afraid to let on that I knew because I didn't want to make her feel bad so I played along. I got gifts from "Santa" well into my adulthood. (-: I've done pretty much the same thing with my boys. When they started asking questions I kind of turned it around on them like "Well, what do you think?" until it got to the point that they just point blank confronted me and I confessed. With the older one I enlisted his help in not spoiling it for his little brother and the younger kids on the bus, making him feel like a special assistant. My younger one, now 12, insists that we continue with the tradition because "the best gifts come from Santa." He also got the talk about not spoiling it for the little kids and about how Santa represents the spirit of giving and the Christmas season.

My mom told us the story of Santa but never pretended he was real. We had great Christmas's and she put from Santa on gifts that weren't wrapped and that appeared Christmas morning but we all knew they were from my mom. She never pretended they were really from Santa. We knew the real story behind Saint Nick. She said that she didn't want us to think that there may not really be a God. We never told our children that there was really a Santa either. We do the same thing with our children. Maybe you can go ahead and share the news with your children. They'll find out sooner or later and Christmas is awesome with family and love not because a fat guy gives gifts. Gifts are from family because they love you. Just my opinion. Good luck and have a great weekend!

My kids busted me when they noticed that the gifts from Santa and from me where wrapped in the same paper.

I found out on the school bus when I was in kindergarten and I was heartbroken. One of the 'big kids' stood up and yelled it on the bus.

I feel keep the magic, they will figure it out. Then they will pretend for a year or two so they don't hurt your feelings.