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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Parents telling their kids the truth about Santa at such a young age!

189 replies

LouiseQ · 04/12/2015 07:21

I have two children age nine and five. My nine year old still very much believes in Santa and I don't see what the problem is with this. She is in year 5 so I expect that this year will be her last as we are due to apply for high school next year, but a couple of my friends who have children of a similar age to mine think it's strange that she still believes and have admitted to me that their seven and eight year olds children already know the truth.

Whilst it's of course up to them what they do with their own kids I can't help feel a little sad for them as they are so young, but i also get the impression that they think I'm being a little precious with my dd and a bit stupid for allowing her to believe at this age. Surely though she is still quite young?......and considering she still plays with her dolls (and not i phone 6's like my friends kids) she is still very kid like at heart, if that makes sense. I just don't get why any parent (with kids under high school age) would want to spoil the "magic" and would want their kids to grow up so fast, after all they're only little for a short amount of time.

OP posts:

Katedotness1963 · 04/12/2015 19:06

Santa only brought one present to our house so we made sure he always brought what they asked for. Luckily for us the never asked for anything outrageous or unaffordable!

My sil told her kids from the start, she didn't want some mythical person getting credit for what she spent her money on. Fair enough, I wasn't too pleased when she told us in front of my kids too though.

Mehitabel6 · 04/12/2015 19:27

I loved the story from a poster last year where they were of the boring 'don't lie' to your children view and they had an imaginative DD who liked magic and firmly believed despite them!

CoteDAzur · 04/12/2015 19:36

"My son is ten and has always had a strong natural faith in God and Jesus, from the time he was very small."

What is "strong natural faith in God and Jesus"? Presumably you & others actively taught him about God and Jesus so there is nothing terribly "natural" about his belief, is there?

"When he was around four or five, he had several experiences over a period of a couple months of seeing angels. One of the times was a night when he had gotten into bed with us, in the middle, went to sleep and then woke up and saw angels come into the room. One came to my husband's side, one to my side, and one to the end of the bed as if protecting us and watching over us. He described them in detail and says it was not a dream and we still talk about it years later."

You see, this is the difference between the gullible faithful and the sceptical - if a DC told me such a thing and I thought he wasn't making it up, I would take him straight to the doctor to rule out brain tumour and schizophrenia.

pullofthemoon · 04/12/2015 20:36

It's paramount I am honest with my children as they came to be with me via unconventional routes.

I can't lie, even harmlessly.

Marmitelover55 · 04/12/2015 21:20

I don't think I ever believed in Father Christmas but still had a lovely time growing up at Christmas with a stocking and visits to Father Christmas (who I knew was someone dressed up). I don't think it spoilt anything and there was no horrible disappointment when I discovered it wasn't true.

My DC worked out pretty early on that we were actually Father Christmas, as we unthinkingly used the same wrapping paper for the stockings as we did for presents under the tree. They still go along with the pretence now though st 14 and 12

Senpai · 04/12/2015 21:24

Year five is quite old to still believe. Do you think your DD has figured it out, but still plays along?

I knew by then but played along because my parents told us that Santa only comes to those who believe. It was just one of those unspoken things until I had DD.

Tywinlannister · 04/12/2015 23:26

CoteDAzur that would not be schizophrenia or a brain tumour but more likely a temporal lobe seizure from which I suffer (and have always suffered but previously believed them to be supernatural in nature).

People have them all the time, its the most undiagnosed form of epilepsy because everyone thinks its God or they are psychic. It was only that one of mine escalated to a tonic clonic that I was ever diagnosed. I mention it a lot on here in case someone is having them and doesn't realise they have a treatable condition, as I was.

WishIWasWonderwoman · 04/12/2015 23:31

Jesus is every bit as real as santa, but not more real - there probably was an individual that the story grew around, although there's quite a bit more on St Nicholas than Jesus being more modern.

This did make me laugh, St. Nicolas is more modern than Jesus, but he was born in the third century! He died over 16 hundred years ago.

thewavesofthesea · 05/12/2015 00:44

I still believe in Santa, aged 31! Santa still comes to my parents house, he still delivers presents under the tree and leaves stockings for whoever is staying there at the time. My sister (aged 27) lives with my parents and I believe the same traditions we have had since we were kids are still there. The magic of Christmas is something I never want to grow out of, and I still get excited now, especially as Santa now visits our house to my DSs aged 4 and 6.

I think Santa is more than a story. It is a spirit and a loving feeling that we get around Christmas; I am
so lucky for all I have and Christmas is a great time to celebrate that.

mommy2ash · 05/12/2015 14:40

My dd is almost nine and the vast majority of her class ( all girls if it makes a difference still believe I will tell her when she questions it. I was told at 5 and was devastated at the time it was much too young

Siwi · 05/12/2015 14:45

Meh and multi vac
Yay

Mine figured it out round 5 but maturely humoured us, because it seemed to make the groans happy.

Siwi · 05/12/2015 14:46

It's Christmas. It's all about the parents.

CoteDAzur · 05/12/2015 15:36

"I still believe in Santa, aged 31! Santa still comes to my parents house, he still delivers presents under the tree and leaves stockings for whoever is staying there at the time."

Can you use these powers of auto-hypnosis to overcome pain and cold, for example, or can you only delude yourself in matters relating to Christmas? Such a skill can come very handy in a number of scenarios I can imagine.

ReginaBlitz · 05/12/2015 18:54

Why all this bullshit about having "the talk"? Ffs kids grow out of Santa that's normally how it goes why the fuck sit them down like someone died talk about making drama.

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