Is it wrong to allow a child to continue believing in Father Christmas at the risk of them being teased?

[LittleHouseonTheHill]

Almost 9 yrs old DS.

He fully believes in Father Christmas . His best friend does not and has started to tease DS.

Some of the class do still believe , some (especially the older ones) do not .

I think it’s time for the truth if he asks .
My DM thinks we still have a few years left if we tell him “of course he’s real”.

I was 12 when I found out

I don’t want DS to be teased or tell him too early but I get his friends have more influence than me

He definitely believes 100% .

WWYD ?

How do you know that some of his class believe and others don't? if your son is telling you this then obviously he knows the truth. Also what does 'started to tease' him about believing mean? If you've had a conversation about this then obviously he knows.

My DD is 10. She still believes in Father Christmas...or that's what she tells me. She's a very perceptive girl though, so I highly suspect she's humouring me.

I won't be telling her he isn't real though. If she truly does believe he's real she'll eventually work it out for herself.

For now I want her childhood to be as magical as it can be for as long as possible.

There's a lot of negativity in the world. Believing in Father Christmas isn't one of them.

My two still believe and they are both younger than their 9 and 6 years due to SEN, but i’ve Started preparing for the inevitable by doing something that last two years that I saw online that felt like a good idea. It involves telling them. in secret, perhaps over a special drink in a cafe, that you have noticed how much they’ve grown up since last Christmas and that you you think they are ready to «be a Santa» . And then you encourage them to pick someone they know and buy/make a thoughtful gift for them, and then give it to them in secret, anonymously. Try to ensure they get to see how happy it makes the person and congratulate them on keeping it secret , so it seems like magic for the person. It’s nice because you don’t actually have to tell them Santa isn’t real, they can if they want to still believe, but I think it prepares them for the realisation. So far with DS9 i’ve Done it the last two years and he stills professes to believe in Santa. But it is nice because he’s got into the random act of kindness thing and Christmas has become a lot more about giving.

Dd just asked me about death and what happens when you die and I told her the truth. I then asked her about Santa and whether she thinks he is really, she says she does, and I am leaving it be. After all it seems a lot of NT kids her age choose to believe, despite being told or 'figuring it out'.

Here’s the thing m.facebook.com/charity.hutch/posts/10157867632370010