to be really upset that dd1 5yo said 'Santa isn't real' 'its you and dad isn't it - which is better!'

[AnxiousElephant]

I suppose it took me by surprise and she said it infront of her ds who is only 3 so really didn't know what to say.......I just suddenly realised that her childhood is vanishing very quickly

splinters I can't remember the exact details. Like I said it was quite a few years ago. Think it was in america, maybe they have bigger chimneys?

Ooops!

Ok I just googled 'man dies in chimney impersonating santa' and it came up! It's actually a legend. I would link but i'm on my phone so google what i just said and it's the top link (snope).

I did say it was a few years ago I read it :o

Hohoho

Snopes?

Yes, snopes. Well I thought it was true at the time [hblush] :o [gullible]

Pig (apt name saying others dcs are thick to believe)

I believed until I was about 7/8 when I found one of my presents but I'm most certainly not thick .......have a PG Dip don't you know! .

I think the difference back in the early 80's was that children seemed to be/ act like children.
I think I will take the positives of it being 'better' in her words .
Actually I don't know any other child in dds class who doesn't believe (or at least are still hedging their bets!) .........I think an email from Santa might do the trick! We did this last year and the dds found it awesome

My DC are in secondary school now,but I used to say Father Christmas is like God and the Tooth Fairy. He only exists for those who believe in him/her...... [hsmile]

My 7yo still believes, I like to think he's got a fabulous innocent imagination rather than being thick.

My 7yr old DD believes, as do younger DS's. None of them are "thick". Just innocents who believe and yes, they like to. DD actually corrected someone who told her FC didn't exist, with a "who do you think brings your presents then?" No answer there :o

Our DC's only get 2 small gifts from Santa, plus a satsuma and a bag of chocolate coins. All other gifts come from whoever bought them, so they can thank the right people.

Had a tricky moment yesterday, as doing our Christmas shoe boxes for children who don't get gifts around the world, DD asked why they don't get anything, as surely Santa would get them something Just told her that this was the extra bit, as their mummies and daddies wouldn't be able to get them anything.

My DD is 8 and still believes (just) and i can assure you pig that she is neither "humoring me" or is "thick"

I want to keep the magic of christmas for her as long as possible. TBH i think this will be the last year, but she still believes this year, why would i want to change that???
I was told rather bluntly at the age of 9 by my older brother that santa wasn't real and i was heartbroken.

Ds2 got told way too young by DS1, when he still truly believed and wasnt ready to know, DS3 worked it out for himself and DS2 confirmed it. So i wasnt given the chance to keep the magic a little bit longer.

OP I'd keep up the magic part of Christmas as long as you can... so if your dd says "but mum why are you putting chocolate covered raisins by the fireplace?" (reindeer dropping don't ya know, and always gets a great reaction if I eat one) you can say "well its doesn't hurt does it" - my mum did this, she STILL does this, and I certainly don't still believe in Santa, but I DO still believe in the magic of it all.

My 7 (almost 8) year old still believes. Only today, I was discussing with her what she wanted for birthday / Christmas and she said, she'd ask for X for her birthday and Y for Christmas, because then Santa could bring Y as it was more expensive and that would save us money.

I love the logic. So I'm guessing she still believes, but she most certainly isn't thick - she was always on the gifted and talented register, so I wouldn't call her thick. She is very young for her age though.

My daughter worked it out when she was about 3 and half, she got out of bed about ten o clock one night and said mam I've been thinking and FC cant be real its mammy's and daddy's working really hard to buy all the presents, I was so taken aback by her logic I said yes you are right .... but dont tell anyone ... its a big secret.

My mother was devastated, she said that I should have convinced her was real, but I thought when she finds out that I have lied to her she will loose a lot of trust in me and wanted to avoid that!

She found it hilarious that her 9yr old cousin still believed but was ever so good in keeping her secret!

My DS1 who is seven says he believes in the tooth fairy and Father Christmas. But I had to tell him that they don't come to people who don't believe in them.

Hmmm my DD is nearly 6 and maintains Santa is a man dressed up. This stems from DH telling her! I try to convince her that Santa is too busy to visit our village which is why there are 'pretend' Santas. Not sure she is buying it!
A friend of mine used to replicate reindeer footprints with charcoal on her kids pillows on Xmas Eve! Dedication!

Well I have managed to restore her faith in santa . We watched the film 'Father Christmas' and now she says Santa is real and AMAZING

PHEW!

Ah, thats good. I dread the day DS no longer believes

ds worked it out last year, aged 7. I'd been expecting a tricky conversation because he'd already rumbled the tooth fairy a few months before. Odd thing was, he was really pleased - he got quite moved by the thought of Mummy and Daddy doing all that stuff for him without him realising. Phew!

He was a bugger about the Tooth Fairy, though. Had a very serious conversation at bedtime when I had to work out which way he wanted to play it, and I ended up confessing. He listened, thoughtfully, but still insisted I had to fulfill the previous order for a letter from the Fairy detailing all her exploits. When I said, um, but now you know she's not real, he put on a real teacher voice and said 'yes Mummy but I want to see your ideas'.

thats brilliant edam !

my lovely older sis told me when I was 3 and I've never seen my mum so angry!
I then innocently told everyone at playgroup the next day (the day of the christmas party) and the playworkers were not pleased I was only 3!!! I didn't know

dd1 was 10 last week and she sat me down in february and asked me to tell her the truth about FC and the tooth fairy, which I did, and she promptly burst into tears and told me she was too young to know!

dd2 will be 8 the week before crimbo and definitely believes :)

The trouble is that on EYFS dd1 was point 9 for social development so I sort of expected it early but was completely shocked at the same time! I still don't think she believes but she wants to believe, which is fine. I just want to keep the magic for her iyswim. Even if she pretends I'll be happy because of the magic .

I said that to my mum when I was that age or even younger. Waited up all night until she walked in with sack and then swore as she realised I had proved myself right. Then got bribed not to tell my brother who was only 10.5 months younger than me LOL.

I have always been very sceptical (can't spell it!) of stories or anything that can't be proved by fact. No tooth fairy for me!!

Sorry not sure that reads well. My mum swore as I had caught her out and therefore proved I was right.

lol I was a nightmare apparantly because I would stay awake until 4am to see santa!

My DS asked lots of questions about father christmas when he was five. I am absolutely sure he worked it out then, but for the next couple of years the sheer magic and excitement of it stopped him from wanting to talk about how it really is your mum and dad etc. From age 8 it has been clear that he is playing along, but he LOVES playing along and so do we and I fully expect NEVER to have the actual 'yes it is me and dad' conversation, at least not until he leaves for uni!!!