Does your 9/10 year old still believe in Santa?

[pinkponie]

My DD1 is 9, will be 9.5 at Christmas. She currently still believes in Santa, at least she says she does. A lot could change between now and Christmas I guess but I really hope I get another Christmas with her believing. Does anyone else with dc that age still believe?

I think it’s the opposite. Parents still refer to their 16/17 year olds as children, arrange babysitters for their NT 15 yos for a few hours and so they don’t mature as quickly.

If anyone over about 7 had genuinely believed in Santa at our school, they would have had a lot of stick for it.

Actually I do remember one kid who still believed when he was 8. Tbf nobody told him otherwise but he was considered ‘babyish’ (the worst crime at that age)

Yes

These deluded dc must be keeping it from their friends. Can you imagine the laughter? I think surely this is about stringing parents along or we have a lot of dc who have no critical thinking skills at all and just believe the lies told to them! Are they brainwashed?

My eldest is 10 in a few days and over the past few years has questioned if he's real, he acts like he still believes but im not sure he actually does. I cant quite work it out hes usually quite street smart so i think he doesn't want to say he's not real just in case he doesn't get a present ( we do main gift and stocking off santa)

@WiaaI’m convinced DS aged 10 is similar- I’m so sure she knows but she plays along with the pretence. She loves Xmas and I think she finds all the traditions and little routines fun too.

I think it’s a lack of critical thinking, certainly in cases when someone has had to break the news to them and they have been upset

Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.

Not sure what lame ass Disney film that’s from but why would you be pleased that your 11yo hasn’t had the common sense to work it out?

So when he asks-at nearly secondary school age-you tell him that FC is real?

My 10 year old still believes but I do think this will be the last Christmas.

After the age of about 8, common sense kicked in and they worked it out that it wasn’t real and it was the same as the tooth fairy and the Easter bunny. It didn’t mean that Christmas was any less special. An 11 year old claiming it was real would have been seriously teased.

Of course they have chats about it. I doubt anyone is getting bullied for it, unless they are particularly mean kids. My daughter knew by 9. I didn't refute it, because I never really liked lying about it in the first place.

My daughter is 9 and she heard us putting the presents out last Christmas so she knows. She didn’t actually let on at the time and just told us very matter of factly over tea one evening. I’m kind of glad we don’t have to keep up the pretence anymore if I’m honest.

I think DD did last year at 9-10 but we felt she needed to know before secondary. The tooth fairy came down first after she tested it by putting out a tooth without telling us. She then requested we still pretend and we said fine, but there is a tooth fairy and now it's her job to be one for her brother.

Father Xmas was then questioned I think helped by us being more and more sloppy with gifts at Xmas, like leaving labels on "oh look father Christmas shops at primark too!"

DS is far more savvy and has questioned it all since age 4 but is happy to go along with it for our sakes.

I am waiting for an Xmas where I can relax on Xmas eve and not have to creep about with stockings though.

What utter rubbish

Every other parent seems to have stories about their children finding out, or asking dramatically about it, and can say when they stopped believing. My eldest is 17 and middle 12, and we’ve literally never talked about it. They just gradually go from believing to playing along for fun.

I wonder if boys and girls have different styles of conversations in school. My 3 boys have never had chats with their friends about Santa being real or not. They don’t ask what presents their friends want 🤷🏻‍♀️. If one of my children says their pal is on holiday I obviously ask “where?”. They never know as they just didn’t ask. I often wonder what they talk about 🤔

We've been stuck in the middle ground for a few years now. He's had some sensible questions and he knows it doesn't make logical sense but I think he's not ready to leave the magic behind. I don't confirm or deny anything. I emphasise that Christmas can be enjoyed in lots of different ways and still be magical. DC can ask me what he'd like for Christmas and I'll try to provide it while making sure Santa's gifts are a bit less exciting each year. Hopefully it'll phase out. Honestly, I tried not to make Santa a 'thing' when he was little but it's hard when others around you do and now I'm stuck trying and undo the lie without ruining his trust in me.

I think most children from about 9 want to believe, and will enthusiastically play along but don’t really believe. Around 12, after a few years of make-believe will admit he’s not real!

I think having an older child who believes is odder if they are told all the presents come from Santa - the fact they haven’t worked out that parents buy the presents is bizarre.

And actually ridiculous that parents buy presents and Santa gets the credit. So an 11 yo believes that they are given gifts by a magical being and that parents buy presents for other people.

Are they not giving presents themselves by that age?

Lol, we have the same thing here. I'm surprised what they don't ask, for example, what a friend got for their birthday or how they broke their arm! It's just "I don't know". I think they're a lot more in the present moment and just want to get on with running about.

@ithinkilikethislittlelife They continue like that as men! Many don’t think about presents for others, they aren’t very inquisitive about other people and their feelings. They do can be quite self centred.

There is though a general scepticism amongst boys though and I find they do like a straight answer that’s believable and true. So talking about a sleigh arriving, a fat guy coming down the chimney and dragging a sack of presents with him isn’t believable so they just wouldn’t buy it for long. It’s not worthy of conversation and if DS did express their belief in this, it would be shot down! So they work it out. They do talk about football and video games! So they engage in other flights of fancy!

And then we wonder why some men are so useless at birthdays etc - they are enabled by indulgent mothers 🙄 I see it all the time - you can spot a certain type of ‘boy mum’ a mile away

FWIW I think the issue with not asking questions is separate - I’m an adult woman and don’t know where people are going on holiday etc. Perhaps women are in general more nosey?

It’s not all men. My husband is amazing at presents and not just on birthdays or Christmas. Just “because” he wants to sometimes. Because it’s a Friday or because the sun is out ☺️. And I am an indulgent mother, I spoil my children rotten and always have 🤷🏻‍♀️. I think they have believed in Christmas for so long as they bloody love it and the magic of it. Maybe? 🤔

Of course it’s not all men. Unfortunately it’s something that many use as an excuse because their mummies have always enabled it.

I had an issue with a male colleague who had used something of mine a few weeks ago, despite my name clearly written on it.

Another colleague (who has two boys) came out and said ‘well he’s a man, he probably didn’t think’ 😡😡