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 was a bit like this as a child. Never really bought the idea of Father Christmas as I just couldn't see how it would be at all possible however much 'magic' there was. Was also never interested in getting my face painted as I wouldn't be able to see it so what was the point in that?
I believed in ghosts though. Not so completely logical.

My kids aren’t super clever but worked it out by age 6. As one of them said, if FC was real why wouldn’t he give good kids from poor homes huge sacks of gifts with necessities like shoes and water so that there wasn’t a need for charity appeals ? (Lots of charities advertise on kids tv)

I was going to say the same: she sounds brilliant, OP, relax.
I think we tend to see our own childhoods in a very idealised way: at her age, you probably had similar reasoning. Anyway, developementally, at 6~8 years old, they love facts and information and are known to be little know-it-alls. I actually find it lovely, to see how their brain changes and grow through different phases.

I have cynical children.

DS2 was the one that suprised me at 6. We were at a winter wonderland place with my youth group (older than him) and it was my child who piped up "you're leaning on the button!" at the guide elf when a bunch of reindeer started singing.
I'd have laid money on it being DS1, but he was ill so not feeling up to his usual levels of critical analysis. DS1 is autistic and very matter of fact. We used to have conversations about Santa using timezones, numbers of families with children celebrating Christmas, and magic's protective effects against friction.
DS2 is quirky. Definitely dyslexic with spikey skills, great at problem solving, but not with the rigidity of thought or communication difficulties that are fundamental to autism.

These days I ask him if he'd like a pound for his tooth or would rather risk our somewhat unreliable toothfairy. He goes straight for the money.

She sounds really clever, and difficult to fool. I'm not sure how you can possibly think that could be a bad thing.

My daughter was like this. Very literal. Wanted to know why she was allow to talk to Santa as he was a strange man. He can't be real as couldn't carry all the presents. Why can't cars fly if sleighs can? Surely we would all be flying about? Went to Disney - it's nice but just people dressed up...

No belief in the magic at all. 😬

My DD is like this. She's just really intelligent and a great critical thinker. She was questioning Santa at 3 and had him sussed by 6. Ditto tooth fairy, how babies are made etc. Nothing gets past her.

We tell her she's going to make a great barrister or criminal investigator one day.

DD is the same, she decided that FC didn't exist aged 5 because it "doesn't make sense".

And bear in mind, we're a very, spangly-sparkly-magic-of-christmas family.

She is super smart, logical, observant.

She is NT, with exception of dyslexia. But even her dyslexia is a bit unusual, her reading age is well beyond her years, but she has severe phonological dyslexia.

I just really wasn’t expecting it this young 😩I put so much into making everything so magical and amazing and she’s trying to figure stuff out, without enjoying the joys of the best bits of childhood 🙈

OP you aren't getting it at all. She isn't you her happy childhood memories will be different. You really are sounding ridiculously immature and selfish, your efforts to replicate your experience, she ain't you.

You have a clever child who will go far embrace it and stop the drama over a pack of lies. Honestly people have children with childhoods impacted by illness, SEN, grief this isn't something to be so upset about, head wobble now.

I don't think this is that strange. My son, who is 6.5yrs, also questions and figures things out like this, as does my nephew who is almost 6. My daughter however (also 6.5) and my niece (8) are completely oblivious. My son is still completely obsessed with Christmas.

Get a grip, OP. It's not 'the best bits of childhood'. I have no memories of ever believing in Father Christmas – it was always just a jokey story in our house. Christmas was still always absolutely magical for me and I adored it. I still do as an adult.

Eldest daughter was exactly like this by the age of 4 and she ended up telling her twin sister all about it who refused to believe her till the age of 9 😁I just think kids like this are more problem solvers and it doesn't mean they're not as creative or not enjoying their childhood as much, I promise. I never felt as if either of my twins were being disadvantaged by their views.

My 6 year old daughter right now is fully confident about Santa's existence but since hearing me discuss about the Tooth Fairy doesn't believe about her anymore but simply pretends she does so she gets the money!

Sounds like she's cleverer than you. It's sad that you are not proud of her for who she is.

@Orangefruitbrush ??? Of course I am! It isn’t about that, I just want magical, fond memories for her

@Marblesbackagain Bit harsh.

We do have other problems/issues and illness on our family, I suppose that’s why I overcompensate with it all.

She just sounds smart and non-gullible to me. Certainly not strange.

‘She’s very imaginative though and likes to pretend to be different characters or a dog, so it doesn’t really make sense’

Your DD has a creative imagination, so she doesn’t need other people’s stories or myths, she is making her own. It’s a great gift, OP, all creative artists of stature have it.

Mine worked out Santa when he was 4, based on logic and impossibility.

He got a top degree in a STEM subject, but had a fantastic fun filled childhood, and we always did stocking , Santas sack, etc.

Imagjnation and ‘acting as if…’ is just as much fun for kids, who enjoy stories, games, imagination.

i never know why people insist on maintaining belief in Santa to such extremes.

@ClicketyClickPlusOne Did you just admit it to him when he was little?
I hate lying, but equally, can’t say the truth at such a young age

No it's not harsh. You are completely missing this child cleverness,her critical thinking, problem solving and complaining she doesn't believe lies.

That is it in a nutshell. Your posts are all about you, your feeling, your memories, her otherness, which sounds like intelligence.

I also have challenges in my family, so we embrace who we have as they are. We don't winge about unimportant things.

Honestly I would be so mad at a friend who was giving our about such an unimportant issue.

He didn’t tell us til about 2 years later, when he was still having a great time taking part in the tradition. We just laughed and put the sack outside his door as usual.

and your logical thinking daughter has other ideas.

One of my GC is very similar. It's just how her brain functions.

@Marblesbackagain Not about me at all, i’m
coming from a place of wanting her to feel that magic as a child, when you can

You want her to have 'magic' because it gave you pleasure.

Your daughter isn't the same as you, it isn't going to give her what you felt.

So why not do things she likes, so she has memories that make her happy.

Stop looking with your lens, try look at it from hers.