When did your kids stop believing in Santa?

[5thnonblonde]

Just that really. I’m curious! We’re they upset when they twigged? Or was there an extended period of wilful cognitive dissonance? I think I can remember knowing and not wanting to know and pretending to myself I didn’t iyswim

Dd never let on when she knew
Ds questioned from age 6 and we confirmed his suspicions at age 8

Eldest DC in our family is nearly 8 and I suspect he’s beginning to suspect

My DD is 7 and questions are starting to be asked in class. She still wants to believe so we support that but I don't think we've got much more time left before she 'knows', I don't know if she'll play along for a while longer or not.

@HalfShrunkMoreToGo how do teachers handle that?

5 because he asked for a magic wand for Xmas and didn't get one

He certainly didn't believe the Christmas just before he was six. Not upset at all, but saw it as his moral duty to tell all believing children they had been lied to and it was all a crock.

@MrsPsmalls eep! I don’t envy you handling that!

@5thnonblonde so far they have been saying that Santa is real, but they had a student teacher in least week who was reading with the kids, DD asked why unicorns weren't in the myths and legends book she was looking at and the student teacher said very matter of factly that it's because unicorns are make believe. DD was very upset!

If you ask my 10yo, she would say he's real.

We can't work out if she believes because she wants to, or actually believes. Santa only ever brings one present and the stocking, they help chose presents for everyone, they do a charity gift... but she loves Christmas magic.

@HalfShrunkMoreToGo we had the opposite issue with a myths book where our younger DD confidently announced that along with all the other mythical beasts snakes weren’t real- quite hard to correct her without terrifying her!

I don’t think children tend to be upset when they reach that conclusion naturally. I think that when they ask numerous times and / or are fooled with elaborate games, then the realisation does come as a shock.

My DD confidently announced age 6 or 7 that when you're older you find out he's not real. But then seemed to continue to believe. I found that really interesting. Denial in action.

@MassiveHoard I think that’s almost where our eldest is- perhaps we’ve got longer than we think as I think he’s also in wilful denial!

DD was about 10 (but we live in an area of Europe that Father Christmas doesn't visit (there's a different local tradition) so she had no one around her questioning his existence).

@MacavityTheDentistsCat are there a lot of naughty children there?

I absolutely cannot wait til they knoe Santa is bullshit. I don't tell anyone in real life that thats what I think. I find it stressful.

My eldest told me at 9 that he knew it wasn't real and started giggling and said he had known for 2 years but went along with it in case he didn't get any presents.

If you ask my mum she'd say I believed till I was about 12, in reality I knew the truth from about 9, but genuinely thought "it'll upset my mum if I let on, I'd better pretend" lol.

Our eldest is almost 9 and has Asd. He is extremely black and white and goes by facts. He recently had a big outburst about the tooth fairy as his younger brother had a visit from her and I think he was jealous, so he googled Is the tooth fairy real? Then he announced his findings 🤦‍♀️. He hasn't actually questioned about Santa but I have no doubt he's worked it out, I think I need to have a chat asap because I don't want him spoiling it for anyone else.

Eldest at 9 asked. DS2 is 9 now and still believes and so does DD5.

Ds is 9 and still firmly believes. Still also loves his elf and believes he is magic. Pleased its lasted this long.

@MacavityTheDentistsCat
Love your username!
DS is 10 in June and still believes. I think we’ll get this Christmas and maybe next.
I’d love it if he found out but just played along forever but knowing DS when he finds out there will be tears and drama.
Mind you I cried when I found out age 11 😂

DD is almost 8. She knows but she still pretends to believe. I've never told her, she just rolls her eyes when the parcels turn up and laughs when I tell her I'm Santa's helper. She still enjoys going to see santa, even though she knows he's not real, and she knows her little brother believes still so doesn't want to ruin it for him. She enjoys the magic but knows its created by me so no point in saying anything.

My son isn't born yet but myself, I think I was about 12, so a bit of a late one. And I'm so glad I did believe for so long. I have 2 elder siblings and they helped to keep it real for me. My most magical childhood memories are of the excitement of Christmas (and not in a greedy way, I remember getting things like a new toothbrush in my stocking.. and it was so exciting as it came from him!). I can't wait for my own child to experience the magic

Dd2 was 8, she promised not to tell her dsis who was 10 at the time but during an argument she told her cue much crying, Dd1 has sn