To wonder if my 6 year old thinks in a strange way

[Andsoitgoeshey]

Dd turned 6 not long ago.

Last year when she was 5, I started the elves, she immediately asked if I did the elves and kept going on about the letter from the elves being from me.
This year, she asked a couple of weeks ago if it was us that really bought the presents, not santa, she hasn’t heard anything at school etc or would have said, this is just the way she thinks.
We were watching Home alone the other day and I made a joke saying imagine being home on your own at aged 8 having to look after yourself and the fun you could have. She said he wasn’t alone because of the person behind the camera filming him…!
I just never thought this way as a child, I became really absorbed in films, not even realising they weren’t real and believed in Father Christmas and that magical world.
She’s very imaginative and loves role play and pretending to be different characters.

Is this normal for a 6 year old? I find it quite sad

I guess the thing is, does it really matter how other kids think? This is the way your kid thinks and sees the world.

Has some benefits, has some disadvantages, like everything

Is this the only thing that you notice. Is there more than this? Other things for example?

Some kids are just really switched on. She is clearly very attune to reality.

My son was exactly the same. He'd say he can see the string on the fake Santa's beard whereas all the kids would be oblivious. ( My son is ND.)
And I'm not saying your daughter is. That's the only reason I was asking. Is there more to this than those examples. I personally found it quite funny my son could spot things like this.

She has a good sense for bullshit. There are disadvantages to that but it's also a strength your daughter has in many ways.

Sad? I think she sounds really intelligent.

A problem solver.
Don't worry.

My kid is a similar age and already questioning Santa - it'll just depend on what they hear from friends and how how much they are into magical thinking (still normal at that age) vs being literal and factual (also totally normal). I think old movies (rather than contemporary, and sadly Home Alone is old!) are less 'real' feeling generally

She sounds clever and curious. They are good skills to have.

My soon to be six year old told me a giant Pudsey bear visited his school, but he knew it wasn't really Pudsey it was a person in a costume, because bears are not that shape, don't walk like that and he could see a line where furry boots started and bears don't need to wear boots.
I think sometimes they are just very literal and honest at this age.

DD was similar, is autistic too extremely logical but I just used to ask 'Is it more fun to believe in Santa and the elves or more fun to think it's me?' And we went from there.

You find having an intelligent child sad? Em ok.

Did you seriously swallow everything up out were told, now that's sad.

She's clever , I love this 🤗

I don’t find having her being smart sad, just a lot of childhood is about all the magic and fantasy. I wasn’t a stupid child but didn’t question things until I was older. It just seems a shame for her maybe not to believe

I have a 6yo who is similar. He is interested in Greek myth (saw a book in the library…) so we’ve been talking about what is “real” and “magic” a bit. He “knows” that magic isn’t real.

This year he says he thinks Father Christmas is a story like Athena and her magic helmet. This seems a reasonable leap to have made! I’ve said well what do you think and he said oh I think it’s you and Daddy. I have reminded him that lots of people like to believe in magic so not to spoil things for his friends but I didn’t want to lie to him when he asked me directly.

My daughter thinks very much like this. She is autistic but I don't think that signifies. She just has a great bollocks-o- meter.

Aged 4 asking a Santa in a department store "Why are you wearing trainers if you've come straight from the North Pole?"

Aged 6 "Well if there's a dinosaur egg hatched in school I'm not bloody coming in" (to her teacher who had.tried to set up an immersion fun activity and lure her in for it)

Aged 7 "Being a Disneyland dress up person must be a very lonely life. No one ever sees you."

Aged 9 "I haven't got you a present because really what's the point in buying you something that's not quite what you want, in a swap for something that's not quite what I want?"

And on and on and on. She often comes across as rude now she's 13, whereas it was seen as cute or, more accurately, precociously endearing, when she was younger.

Sounds like she's a great critical thinker.

Be grateful. She's never going to be taken for a mug by anyone. She'll see straight through the bullshit every time.

Don't you just love kids😂

I don't remember ever believing in Santa or the tooth fairy or anything. I've never felt sad about my childhood not being magical enough.

Childhood is about lot of things. I never believed in the crap told to kids neither did my kids. All fully functioning happy successful people with big friendship groups.🤷‍♀️

So I wouldn't be worried because she the intellectual ability to see through things.

This is a huge advantage in life and gives her skills which will also keep her safer than the children who believe a lot of 'fantasy'.

She sounds very similar to my son, who is 5! It makes it hard because I don't want to lie to him, but I also want him to believe in santa for at least another year. 😭

He knew straight away the elf of the shelf at school was done by the teachers.

He is not silly enough to believe the Santa's at grottos etc are real eithet. But that is fine as there's ways you can get around that. 🙂

But all the magic of lying in bed on Christmas eve and I honestly thought I heard the bells of him on his way, Dh says the same. Even the tooth fairy leaving the money. She hasn’t had any teeth out yet, she isn’t excited about the fairy coming, just the money she will get 🙈
She’s very imaginative though and likes to pretend to be different characters or a dog, so it doesn’t really make sense

@Hellohappybirthday Yes, she knows the santas we visit arent the real ones and that’s fine, i’m the same as don’t like lying, but I have 🤦‍♀️she’s just too little yet

One of my kids was like that. The Home Alone comment is exactly type of thing he would come out with. He's an adult now. With the benefit of hindsight, he was (and still is) academically gifted.

I am autistic so possibly not getting it at all. But... as I child i never believed in any of the "magic" or really understood it. I kind of accepted it as a game everyone played (like we did make believe play in the play ground) I had assumed everyone thought the same.

Like... everyone knows there's no Santa and if there was he certainly wouldn't be hanging round my local garden centre during the busiest months of his life. But people like to pretend because they think it's fun. I can't say I had less joy in my childhood because of it.

"Magic" is over rated.

Does this seem like autism?

DD1 is 5, said last Christmas that she knew the Santas we met out and about weren't the the ones, and she point blank said a few weeks ago 'I don't think Santa exists'. I didn't respond and she didn't ask me, but if she does I won't lie. She's totally unbothered by it and still mad about Christmas anyway.

We also had a chat just tonight tooth when she would get her first wobbly teeth and I said something about the tooth fairy visiting when she does and she said 'Mummy! It's you!' 🤷‍♀️

Just raising a sceptic I think! Plus she's like me in that I don't like not knowing things.