Did you believe in Santa as a child, even for a short while?

[Pavementworrier]

Yabu for yes
Yanbu for no

I think most children of average intelligence would start to question the veracity of it all at around the age of 5 or 6

I actually find it slightly odd when people are proud that their 11-year-old still believes in Father Christmas. Obviously small children believing in things like that is very cute, but if an 11-year-old lacked critical thinking skills to that extent I might actually be inclined to wonder if there was something wrong.

yes and I was convinced I saw him on his sleigh in the sky, I can still remember seeing him

I believed until I was about 11. My friend told me a few years before he was not real the argument that followed let to a physical fight (my only physical fight ever) as we both felt so strongly that we were right

I don’t think I ever believed. I’m too literal. I knew it was impossible for reindeer to fly, and how did all the presents fit into one bag, and how can he still be alive, and why aren’t there pics of his house and toy factory, how can he get to every house in less than 24 hours, what about people that sleep in their living rooms or are awake during the night, why hasn’t anyone seen him? I had too many questions and my parents would come up with these elaborate answers but I never believed them.

but it didn’t take away the magic of Christmas, it was my favorite time of the year up into my 20s.

I didn't say I'd be angry, I'd just think it was weird pretence. I think I'd have been annoyed that everyone was acting as though I was stupid tbf.

Yes - I believed until I was in the final year at Primary school and I only stopped believing because the big mouth I sat next to told me truth just before Christmas that year! DSIS and I made an agreement that we would pretend not to know the truth for as long as we could so we would continue to get stockings. I got my last stocking age 13.

I believed in something but I was confused about just who was bringing the presents...in my part of the world 30 odd years ago most people would say "the baby Jesus" was bringing the presents but in films Santa did.
I think I thought the baby Jesus and Santa shared out the kids!

I always believed in Santa! carried on the story ,when my DC was small too.Cant see the harm really its a white lie anyway same as tooth fairy and Easter Bunny .Just adds to the magic .Unless they are still believing at 12 or something!

Not as far as my earliest memory. I remember thinking it was weird that adults believed in Father Christmas and Jesus because they were both very obviously fake 🤣

I never believed either. I remember at around 6 thinking if he was real then I thought it was a creepy concept - I didn't want some old man sneaking into my home in the middle of the night. My Mum tried her best to get me to believe but I think I was just naturally pessimistic as a child. I never believed in the tooth fairy either. I did believe in God, though

No, we weren't brought up to believe in Santa. We all knew it was my parents that paid for everything. So my poor dad had to put up with us setting traps so we could hear him coming to put the stockings on our beds 😂Poor man was dodging skipping ropes and dressing gown belts for years.

Weird if she lied? Vast majority of parents tell their kids about Santa, I loved believing and no I don't resent my parents for "lying" 😂😂

I started to question it around 8 or 9 on the basis that if he existed why were some children in the world starving. Why didn't he help them. ( I watched the news a lot). My mum used to ignore me when I mentioned this probably because I had younger siblings.

See I also enjoyed reading myths, but I accepted them in the "possibly true who knows ooh magic" way I accepted everything. Did I think my wardrobe led to Narnia? No not really. Did I think that one day it might? I wasn't discounting that.

Yes of course
And I distinctly remember an incident where my letter had gone and I started to doubt it and suspected it was dad who had taken it!!

Although my mum said recently my friend told us in the car that Santa wasn't real and she was so mad! But I don't remember that at all!

I did believe as a child until I was old enough to stay up late and realised it was my parents bringing my stocking up! I never did Santa with my children and they still love the magic of Christmas with the added benefit of knowing their parents love them enough to buy them lots of gifts.

I think the first myths I was obsessed with were Greek myths so maybe their being a bit more preposterous far-fetched helped!

But then I also never believed in God despite being raised in a religious household. Went to church every week but it never occurred to me that God might be real. That got me into even more trouble.

I yhink most children of average intelligence would start to question the veracity of it all at around the age of 5 or 6
I think there are different types of people. For some, something is true or it isn't. For others, like me as a child, you exist in a world of possibilities. I was a very bright child. If you had pointed a gun at me aged seven or eight and said "We will shoot you if you give the wrong answer - is Father Christmas real" I would have said "no". But I was also able to believe that he was, some how. I knew it was something I didnt want to examine too carefully as it would ruin it. I thought everyone was like this as a child. (I'm still.like this today a bit, do I think I'm going to win the lottery? Yes, beyond all logic, but also, obviously not)

My DS is very different and did have questions, and I did wonder if I was doing the right thing, but tried to keep it all quite low key and I'm sure he worked it out for himself.

I was actually thinking of Greek myths!
I was raised in an atheist household and said my prayers / read the Bible anyway (believed in God in about the same way I believed in Santa and fairies). It's interesting how belief works I think.

I believed, then got to an age I had questions and doubts, and my parents answered my questions with lies, so I believed again for a few years. I’m glad they did that because that bit where you’re trying to get to sleep because Santa is coming was absolutely magical for me.

I don’t know what possessed me, but when my eldest asked me if Santa was real, when he was maybe 8, I decided to tell him the truth. He looked so disappointed and I was gutted. I thought he wanted the truth, but he wanted reassurance. I have lied to my youngest about Santa ever since. He knows now he’s older, and I know he knows, and he knows I know he knows, but I still lie.

I certainly have no memory of actually believing in Santa - I always remembering experiencing it as a fun game we played.

My DH remembers finding out that Santa was real and was really upset by it. He is autistic (like me) and I think that's partly why he found "being lied to" upsetting.

I remember the Arachne myth really struck a chord with me ("be kind to spiders" and "never trust those in authority" are two precepts I've always lived by) but while I loved to imagine it, I think the idea of a woman turning into a spider was just not something I felt was realistic.

Definitely interested in the idea that cynicism or at least scepticism is innate. Doesn't seem to be correlated to upbringing as much as you'd expect.

I'm sure my children didn't want to spoil it for me either! We also all keep the traditions going, even though they are adults.

The magical part of children’s imagination is strong and not just about Santa.

At Easter, I would take my children to a local NT property. I would hide eggs along the river bank for them to collect in their baskets.
We didn't really make much of the Easter Bunny, just a mention that the Easter Bunny had left some eggs - yet one of my sons insisted for quite a few years that the Easter Bunny was at the river with us, that he really saw the Easter Bunny!

I don’t ever remember believing. My brother is 4 years older and would have definitely told me , in orde to spoil it all as he was a little Sh1t to me as a child.

I went to state school and don’t remember anyone believing there. Then aged 9 I went to a posh girls school and ALL the girls believed. I found it perplexing this big difference between the 2 schools.

I definitely believed until I was about 10/11. My parents went to a huge amount of effort to keep us believing and I remember it all feeling so magical.

When I figured it out I never felt lied to. I was just thankful for effort my parents made.

I never did because my parents never did the Father Christmas thing. I remember feeling quite smug when school friends were talking about him, knowing I knew the truth and they didn't, but I didn't tell them (my brother did though, which made a lot of parents angry with my parents!)