Believing in Father Christmas

[Nzou1050]

Have just been reading a thread by a mum who was caught being the tooth fairy and a few posters were saying their 6 year olds knew Father Christmas wasn't real. My DS is 3 so this will be his second year of having Father Christmas bringing his stocking presents. I think it'd be really sad if he only believed for a couple more years. When did everyone's DC find out/work it out?

[sonlypuppyfat]

DD is in yr7 and still believes in santa, what's wrong with that. The world's a tough enough place without a little magic. And I wouldn't be too pleased if a teacher told them he didn't exist, my cousin told me and I've still not forgiven her

[JennyOnAPlate]

My 6 year old is starting to question it and has serious doubts. My 8 year old is a firm believer.

[BrollySmolly]

Eldest probably stopped believing at age 10.
9 year old is a believer, but I suspect may start questioning it soon. 5 year old is a strong believer!

[Microwaste]

Started to question it about. 7 or 8 but still wanted to believe. Asked directly at age 9 - I'm a firm believer that any question they are old enough to ask deserves an honest answer so told them then. They were surprisingly really taken with the idea! They loved the thought of all the effort that me and DH had gone to over the years and said it was really special! I was a bit taken aback by the response to be honest as I hadn't ever thought of it that way!

[atticusclaw2]

Mine are 11 and 9 and apparently still believe. I think they've sussed it really but are happily playing along and I'm not bursting any bubbles. Its such a lovely magical thing to believe in

[DramaInPyjamas]

Same as atticus
Except my DC are 11/12.
I know they don't really believe and they know that I know, but they still like to pretend and joke about him (I think it's fear of not getting any presents!)

[TheLittleRedHen]

DS is 9 and still "believes". He's asked me a few times over the last couple of years and I've gone with a "what do you want to believe?" approach. I was a bit when he first questioned it in Y1 (6) but knowing what we're like, we'll probably continue it until he asks me to stop.

[DurhamDurham]

Both my girls believed until the Christmas before they were due to go to secondary school, by then their friends had sown seeds of doubt so we confirmed that he did not in fact bring the presents but that it was such a closely guarded secret that they shouldn't tell anyone younger than themselves. They have lots of little cousins so I didn't want them to let slip that Santa Claus didn't visit on Christmas Eve.

I actually cannot bring myself to say that he doesn't exist because that's too final and might not even be true

[Soapalert]

My Ds, aged 5 sat thoughtfully in the bath the other day and asked me if Father Christmas is real.
I was taken aback that he was questioning it himself at such a young age. I managed to get him back on track though, saying 'if you don't believe you won't receive'. All part of the magic.

[saltededamummy]

My DD9 proudly announced that she'd worked out that I'm the tooth fairy & DH is Santa. So that was that, really! I've made her promise not to tell anyone else though.

[WantAnOrange]

My DS is 10. I think he worked it out a few years ago but he isn't letting on. He's good at playing the game.

[autumnintheair]

DD now 9 has been questioning since about 5! I am vague and but her off - no one really knows how it works, we can all think - there are glimpses but no one knows.

In fact this year she has asked us to try and catch him in our living room! I remembered an app that put him in your living room?

DD is logical and sensible, she knows many parts of the bible cannot be true etc but she is still hanging in there!

[TheLittleRedHen]

The Polar Express is a good film to watch. I asked DS a few years ago if he'd be able to hear the bell ring when he was asking questions.

[SymphonyofShadows]

DS2 (10) still believes but his friends are saying that it's the parents. When he asked me I said that it was because FC doesn't come to those who don't believe. I reckon as it gets closer to Christmas we will have more questioning though and this is probably going to be the last year.

I had a thread about DS1 last year, who is now 18. He has had ASD (high functioning) and just would not stop believing. Every year we thought it was going to be the last. In the end, at the suggestion of some brilliant MNers, we got a friend with beautiful handwriting to write him a letter from FC on special starry paper saying that it would have to be the last time as he was becoming an adult. It's sad but none of his friends believed and I was worried about him getting teased.

[shouldwestayorshouldwego]

My 8 and 10 year olds stopped believing last year. I think my 7 yr old still believes but he would probably be more devastated if I told him that Star Wars definitely isn't true.

[vickibee]

my ds is 9, he says there are some phoney santa's (people pretending) and one real santa at the north pole. He is a bit of a dreamer though, not sure if he is saying this to go along with the tale or he truly believes it. BTW hw still wants to visit the phoney santa at his grotto?

[dementedpixie]

Ds questioned it from age 6 and knew it was us last year when he was 8ish. Not sure when Dd stopped believing (she is 13 now).

[alwayshappy101]

My ds will turn 6 next month.
he has already figured out the Easter bunny and tooth fairy aren't real,so I've been quite surprised that he's been mentioning Santa.

I figured this will probably be the last year of him believing,so I'm trying to get him as excited as possible and I'll definitely take him to see Santa and get a few photo keepsakes soon.