To think it harsh to tell your child there's no Santa

[Makebelievefairy]

DD (age 7, year 3) came home from school today and said another child in her class said FC isn't real, and neither are fairies.

DD, at 7, seems so young still, but maybe I'm out of touch?
I think another parent mentioned the parents of this child told her that FC/fairies aren't real basically from birth, so she's never believed.

Just a bit sad it's spoiling some of the magic for others (though I completely appreciate it's up to the individual parent(s) to tell their child whatever they choose).

My DD is quite young in some ways, vivid imagination and lots of imaginative play, loves fairies still and having adventures.

Just left me feeling a bit meh. AIBU to be bothered?
I've basically outright lied to her this evening and today her they're real. Was that the wrong thing to do?
I know it's not a big deal in the grand scheme, but just wondered about similar experiences..

My kids have never really believed in FC, always just told them it’s made up that some kids believe in. They have always loved Christmas, don’t think it’s ruined it for them at all. Probably better than being lied to for years and then feeling stupid for believing it!

Why is it harsh to tell a kid there is no Santa? Children whose parents are of other faiths will tell their kids that Santa isn’t real! According to my dds from the start of primary school other kids told them Santa wasn’t real. How do you explain that Santa misses out half the kids in their class and delivers presents on different dates to some of the rest?

I do think it takes a special kind of wanker to not worry about their kids going in to school and telling other children that Santa isn’t real, and ruining the effort and traditions of other families - purely because they don’t align with theirs.

we believe in our house. Well, my 8 year old does (and yes, she defo does - if I thought that there was a hint of her not then I’d be on it, as there are some ‘Santa’ related things we do that I cannot wait to drop!) my 11 year old asked me a couple of weeks ago and I told her the truth. She absolutely knows she mustn’t say a word to anyone who might believe though, regardless of their age. I would be mortified if she spoiled someone else’s tradition.

She was fine, not upset in any way about the lie, and said she was glad she had the years of Santa magic that she did. I’m hoping our youngest gets to the same age.

Most 7 year olds have figured it out. I think you should have told the truth when confronted, it's one thing to create some Christmas magic, it's another thing to completely dismiss them and lie to them.

It’s honestly hard to do the whole Santa thing with some kids. My dd was afraid of him at first, then she started asking so many questions. She won’t just accept it. She also asks me outright if he’s real and I’m honestly running out of energy with the whole thing. She focuses a lot on the good behaviour = presents, bad behaviour = none aspect.
I’ve done my best to try make it magical and believable. She just won’t really go along with it. She immediately called bs on the tooth fairy. Just said straight off she knew it was dad and there’s no such thing as fairies.
It’s nothing to do with how smart they are or lack of imagination and it’s not for lack of trying on my part. It’s a personality thing. Some kids are just hard to bullshit.
All in all, I think it would be better if people didn’t try to make out that he’s literally, physically real. It’s a bit unreasonable to expect everyone to collective keep up the lie for small kids, some of whom are capable of figuring it out on their own very easily. They are going to find out sooner rather than later anyway, especially now that slightly older kids can just google it.

I don’t really understand this guilt about “lying” to your child about Santa. The vast vast majority of young children, in this country at least believe in Santa, they believe it because at some point or another the adults in their life has “lied” to them and told them of the magic of Santa. Maybe I’m in the minority but I certainly don’t know any adults who are no contact and traumatised that there parents lied to them about Santa so that they had a magical Christmas, in fact most look back fondly and appreciate the hard work their parents put into making magical Christmas memories for them, so much so in fact that they then repeat it for their own children. They all find out eventually and when they do they get over it, or like myself find it pretty funny! Tell her santas real, feel no guilt about it and revisit it if she asks again in 3ish years. Let her be a child.

I made my parents tell me when I was little because the idea was scary!

It’s not unheard of for children of this age to work it. My youngest did at 5 even though she had an older sibiling who very much believed. I know of other children who havw worked it out too.

Are little kids operating with such clear logic though?
I remember being able to believe things I knew were not true, but it was as though young me could have two or three parallel realities going at once.
Father Christmas was real, and seeing Daddy steal in one year to put presents at the end of the bed didn't make a blind bit of difference.
I knew faeries weren't real, somewhere in my brain, yet I was thoroughly convinced there was one living in my bedroom all the same. (I used to put her in my pocket and take her to Mass, for some reason)

When I was about ten, I went through a very distressing moment when I could feel those other realities ebbing away, like a veil was rent in two and now there'd be only one way of seeing. (Preparing us for menstruation; oh joy.)
One week you could be playing with your old Sindy doll happily, and the next, you’d no way into that dream state any more.

It definitely is magic, that multi-dimensional imagination in childhood. We have very elastic comprehension when young.