FF:QLD "caution children" how did you find out ?

I know there are no regular posters on this board that are still young enough to believe in santa. my 10 year old said to me the other day "I know santa isn't real so you dont have to write from santa on any of xmas gifts any more"
now I have never ever re-enforced any notion to my kids that santa or the bunny are real if they approach me about it I am like a poli and avoid it at all costs. the reason for this is I dont want my kids being pi@#ed at me later on when they find out, I know this is not every ones cup of tea when child rearing but I dont care. I just dont want to lie to my kids and have them lead aray by me.
I was the second youngest child in my family with a few older sisters and brother some in thier teens so I found out pretty early in life that santa and the rabbit were false.
how old were you and did it make a large impact on you when you found out the truth? and who told you ??

 

I was 8 when i was told, and i was pretty upset....and confused. To have what I considered a fundamental truth being told was false was a little devastating altho i did get over it pretty fast, it was kinda cool being privvy to the knowledge we was fake!

 

hmm.. I honestly have no recollection of an actual 'there is no Santa' instance nor kids at school trying to convince me otherwise - just being young still but drawing an eventual conclusiong & figuring out over the years that the presents were actually from Mum n Dad/kept in their room, and being they got cranky if we got out of bed later at night on Christmas Eve in case we sprung them still wrapping/taking presents out to the tree ... but at the same time still having the innocence to keep it to myself and not spoil the illusion for other kids, like I just figured everyone should work it out in their own time.

As far as being hurt or a bad impact - yeah, it lessened the magic a little.,. it was like 'bugger, but HEY! that was a great secret that parents managed to keep so long!' .. and the fun turned into trying to stay awake long enough to spring Mum n Dad in the act each year instead (always ended up falling asleep though)

 

I don't think anyone told us - we were fairly cynical children. Observant little buggers, one might say

"Hey Mum, why is it that Santa Claus seems to have your handwriting?"

Nevertheless, that never stopped us from propping ourselves up with pillows so we could feign sleep and try and catch Santa Claus in the act - we always fell alseep before the presents were put out of course. Ah well.

 

TBH I can't remember ever really believing, as much as I wanted to. The whole "santa gives gifts only to good kids" was proof enough of that - I knew some really horrible kids that got heaps and heaps of presents, so I concluded fairly early on that santa was a complete idiot. Oh and my parents suggesting that we leave alcohol beverage for santa (we never left milk), well that was a pretty huge hint as well.

 

I don't really remember either. I was the youngest so had brother and sister keeping the secret from me. Although it might have been my awful brother who told me in a moment of anger. I do remember some moments when I stopped believing in God, but Santa, no. Was happy to know that Mum was giving me the presents, becasue she deserved the thanks.

As for telling your kids...yeah I'm all for the lying to mkae them happy thing. My munchk can believe as long as he wants to.Magic is so hard to come by. Although I am already instilling the giving and getting presents to and from people you love at Christmas ideals too. If he hates me later, so be it. He's going to have to learn about the fake moon landing some time or another too.

 

I can't rightly remember the exact day I discovered the truth but I surely remember my thought pattern that followed the revelation. Well if Santa and the Bunny is false then by gum the rest of that religous hokey pokey stuff must also be a load of rubbish. Made sense then and still makes sense now.

 

I remember believing in santa, and then not believing, but I don't recall the moment of truth. I do recall a confusing easter involving a trip the cousin's farm, an intercom system (a term I learned later) and the easter bunny talking to us.

 

Given my heritage, we more believed in Saint Nicholas rather than Santa Claus. Reinforced by the fact that he turned up with the devil in chains every Christmas time to deliver presents.

Czechs are fun people, what can I say.

I think I learned that he wasn't real when I was 6. But I still believe in Santa Claus. And why not, it's a wonderful concept. But then again I also believe in Superman still

Be seeing you,

Magnus Darcrider

 

And why the heck not.

Superman has a special kind of magic that cannot be explained, at least not very easily. ~Puts on Superman DVD...~

 

It sure can be explained he get's all his power from our yellow sun no less. What more do we need to know?

 

I am 2nd eldest, with 2 younger than me. I found out when I was 10, but was happy to play along and keep the magic for my younger brothers. As a reward, Santa still came to me.

Strange thing is though, I don't recall ever discussing that with the parents at any stage.
The older ones though got more gifts from family than Santa, a nice transition.

 

Santa's not real?!!

Seriously though, I found out when I was about 8yo. I must have mentioned something about Santa in front of my brother and sister so they sat me down and gave me the bad news. I still remember not believing them straight away and I also remember that I never thought of it as my parents and siblings lying to me for the past 8 years.

I may not have been the brightest spark as a child (or even now) but I instinctively knew that Santa was something to make Xmas that little bit magical and fun for kids - I know I want my kids to believe in Santa and whatnot because it isn't long before the magic dies and they find out how the world really is!