What age did your dc figure out Santa?

[Soubriquet]

Ds is 6, and was talking about christmas the other day (his favourite topic)

He actually came out with “I know who Santa really is. It’s you.”

“What do you mean? Where do the toys come from then?”

“You go to the shop, buy them, wrap them up and then put them under the tree”

“Have you ever seen the presents in the house before Christmas?”

“….no?”

“Well then. That’s cos Santa has them”

He didn’t believe me and has now pretty much figured it out

Dd (8) was gobsmacked. Never knew a thing.

Such a shame

We are in no way poor, but definitely (and noticeably) in a different income bracket to most of my DC friends.
Even until he was about 10, DS used to put the biggest and most expensive things he wanted (eg Xbox), on a list to Santa , I think because he was worried we wouldnt be able to afford it.

@DontTellThemYourNamePike

A lot of parents seem to decide that, as soon as their child starts expressing doubt, they should tell them the truth. As I mentioned upthread, my eldest was almost 12 when I decided to just tell him, but that doesn't mean he hadn't previously raised an eyebrow at the logistics of distributing presents etc. They all do. But he seemed to satisfy himself by ruminating over different time zones - and cloning was mentioned🤣🤣 He was pretty young when he decided all this and never questioned it again, even though I would have hoped he'd have worked it out by the time he got to about 10. He just didn't. And I decided not to disavow him of his belief and let it ride for another while!!

Yes, several PPs seem to have confessed everything at the first questioning. DD1 is 7 and has asked a few times over the last couple of years. I always answer with another question eg "But then how do the stockings get filled?", which she disappears with to mull over. She hasn't come back to me yet with a solution! I think it helps that only the stocking comes from FC (gets around questions over some DCs getting more/less), and we don't over-egg it.

DD1 I had to tell her before high school, she was gutted. My 9 yr old believes in everything, totally into unicorns and fairies, I love that she's having a magical childhood, her elder sister plays into the magic with her.
We have Santa as the delivery driver only in this house so that the correct people are thanked. He bills us in January so not unlimited pot of money for gifts.

I found out watching an old black and white movie one Sunday afternoon.
The residents in the care had had some disappointing news and one little old lady said,'it just like kids finding out about Father Christmas'
This was at about 2 in the afternoon so couldn't have been the only kid to figure it out ......
My dd said to me at 3 years old, I don't want some strange man coming into my room. I told her we'd make sure the present were delivered down stairs but was quite proud of her attitude and explained quite early on that it was daddy in a Santa suit. (But not to spoil it was others )

I have 3 SS, the eldest ruined it for the middle one (6 years age difference) and told him Santa didn’t exist a few years ago when he was 4 so he’s never really believed and the youngest has no comprehension of Santa or Christmas at all (he’s ASD) so we don’t really do the whole Santa thing which is sad 😞

10

Dd1 was around 4 after she recognised dh playing Santa at the church grotto. She ran up to him and burst out laughing. There was no pretending Santa existed after that.

My ds1 is turning 8 this week and I sometimes suspects he knows by things he says but he also seems quite happy to go along with it still.

My 2 eldest were 10 and both had to be told! They were both taken aback. We didn’t think we were very covert and try to play down the Santa aspect.
I did think it made them seem a little dim when they had to be told before secondary school!

We only have one "Santa" present each year with the rest (and all the big stuff) from us. I think mine have remained convinced as we've given them stuff as the Santa present that we have said they weren't allowed.

They go to a multicultural school and none of the Muslim kids believe in Santa so they definitely know the arguments but just choose to be convinced.

Dd1 was around 4 after she recognised dh playing Santa at the church grotto. She ran up to him and burst out laughing. There was no pretending Santa existed after that.

I got round this but said when it was Christmas fair season some people had to pretend to be santa because he couldnt be at all of them at the same time. Some you might know were fakes but if you werent sure you had to be good for all of them as you wouldnt be sure which was the real one!

@HungryHippo11

I'm really sad to read that kids aged 4 to 5 don't believe in FC. I know you only get a few years where Christmas is really magical but I hoped it would be more than 2 years - my daughter is 4 this year and firmly believes but I worry she will become less innocent when she starts primary this week.

Not at all, my DDs still very much believe in the magic, so do a lot of their friends x