When did your oldest stop believing?

[booklover164]

My August born 6 year old told me he doesn't believe in Father Christmas and I'm so sad. His two younger siblings still do. At what age did your oldest child stop believing? 6 seems really young to me.

I couldn’t imagine having that conversation with a 2 year old.

My eldest was Year 5, August baby so he was 9 and a bit. Youngest is Year 4 (8.5) now and very quiet about the whole thing, no idea if she really still believes or not!

Mine all guessed by 6 one was 4!

9 because of my stupid ex husband and his sister. We were having dinner to celebrate the older brother being sixty. My ex and his sister ended drinking too much and started telling about their mother hiding Christmas presents under the bed when they were small. They are lethal as a family when they are drunk as they are quite nasty and stupid in a drunken state

I wouldn't use the word "thick", but by 12 there just has to be skepticism about flying sleighs, traveling the entire globe, distribution of billions of toys....

😬

In a world where so many grown adults believe in gods, whose stories are precisely as implausible as Santa’s, why are people hating on 12 year olds for believing?

My eldest is 7. Still believes but not sure he will next year.

@@AdviceAdvice123
A 12 year old - believing reindeer pull a sleigh around the world? Come on..

And the fact many houses do Father Christmas very differently. Some kids have all presents coming from Santa including big ticket items like game consoles. Others have stockings with bits and bobs. Surely you would question why Becky got an Xbox and you got a pair of socks, playing cards, and a Terry’s Chocolate Orange

How depressing. What’s wrong with kids still believing? I told my older kids after their last primary school Christmas. I think my youngest (who is more clued up!) knows but still wants to believe so will do the same. High school is a real eye opener and a lot of innocence is gone by the time they get there so I don’t see what’s the harm in keeping the magic of Christmas going whilst you can! I’m middle aged and feel sad there will be no more Santa in our house next year 🥺

My son will be 11 in March and it was only a few weeks ago that he came to me and said he’d figured out Santa wasn’t real.

If we hadn’t have had that conversation then this would be the last year we’d let him believe in Santa, we would have told him the truth in the New Year anyway.

My other son is just over 7 and completely believes in Santa and the elf. Thankfully my oldest son is playing along with it all so the magic is still very much alive.

I have an August born 6 year old and she probably knows underneath but still desperately wants to believe in the magic. I’m mildly irritated a child in her class has been going on about none of being real :( I hope she’ll resist the urge and help keep it alive for her sister in the future.
She really enjoys pointing out “fake” Santas to us and explaining why she can tell!

I told my oldest at about 8 years old. I said to her since there was her younger sister, that she also gets to play 'santa' and helps out with the wrapping, and also the delivering of the pressies to my parents, my brother, my sister etc. She also did the carrot and mince pie for her younger sister which she enjoyed being a part of it. It was Sept/October when I told her, when she wasnt fixated over Christmas.

The families I know that push Santa/Father Christmas as a real person and make an effort to have their children believe in it and therefore whose children believe in it beyond very early childhood are all non religious
I agree. In my experience, when Christmas celebrations revolve around the birth of Jesus, Santa characters are more an embodiment of Christmas magic than an actual person... and you can believe in the spirit of Christmas at any age.

Surely you would question why Becky got an Xbox and you got a pair of socks, playing cards, and a Terry’s Chocolate Orange

That made me laugh! But there's truth in that. Why does Santa leave a waist high pile of goodies for some kids while others get one or two presents?

Once kids start noticing those discrepancies you know the gig is up!

Queried at 5 and certain at 6. I won't actively lie and was relieved at his sense. He did promise not to mention it at school.

My 11yo still does.

Yeah why not ? I think it's a nice thing. My 11 year old told me that it's nowhere near as exciting now that she knows, that's sad. I think it's lovely to believe in a bit of magic.

Because they'll get the piss ripped out them?

I found out at 6, but played along for years!

@booklover164 mine expressed doubts about age 7. I said gently "Well, you can decide whether to believe in Santa or not, but if you don't believe in him then he won't come" ... he never questioned it again after that and still gets a stocking now, age 20. 😁

My 9 year old still acts as if she believes but last week I saw on my Google search history that she'd asked 'is Santa real?', I read the results and they all say no it's your parents.

I always say if you don't believe you don't receive so I think she's clinging on in case she doesn't get anything.

11 year old dd hasn't said she doesn't believe but has asked a few times about whether she's getting anything off her list so she definitely knows it's us, she's just as excited as the 9 year old though so it still feels very special.

I was 11 back in the prehistoric pre-internet era and hung around with an embarrassingly unsophisticated bunch of kids and yet not one of us still believed in Santa at that age.

I really have a hard time believing that today's 11 & 12 year olds with their exposure to social media are believing in Santa. They're humouring you.

I think my son figured it out at around 7.

I wouldn't be surprised. I believed for longer than my peers and, at the time, I felt I should remain faithful to the idea of Santa even though those around me were trying to persuade me otherwise.

When my eldest was about 6 he kinda figured it out so I helped him finish working out the truth. I always kept any talk about Father Christmas "light" and never made out it was definitely true. I hated lying to my kids, it wasnt something I wanted to continue doing so I was pleased when ds asked me if it was true.
Altogether much easier imho than finding out aged 10+ that your parents have been lying to you for years.

13 /14 Autistic. And clever.