• uniquely-ironic said on Dec 03, 2007....

  Growing up I'm sure my mom must have "played along" for a few years, but by about 6 or 7 I was on to her.  (I guess I've always had trust issues)
   
  My own kids were educated early on.  After about 2-3 years old we let on that since Santa was so busy that he sometimes asked moms and dads to help out.  This also helped explain how Santa could be in 1/2 dozen malls at the same time.  By about the same age as me the kids noticed that Santa didn't reimburse mom and dad for buying them gifts and the gag was over.

• Fallyn said on Dec 03, 2007....

  UI......so it was more something that just kinda came out over time? it wasn't a shock?
  
  
  when i was little i was told that santa was a real person who lived a long time ago.......he was a priest or something., this is what my parents told me.
  
   .......i always knew that the presents were from grandma, even though they said santa.
  
  when my kids started asking questions i told them the same thing.
  i was with my ex at the time and he said it was a horrible travesty to be lied to like he was as a child....it was a terrible disappointment to learn the truth.
  
  when his mother found out that we'd told the children that there was no santa she threw the biggest fit EVER.
  
  we didn't shatter a previously held belief....we chose not to establish that belief in the first place.

• uniquely-ironic said on Dec 03, 2007....

  yeah, I guess we broke them into it slowly.  I never felt it was right to make up things that outrageous.  People who get all bent about kids knowing the truth need to chill out.  When telling someone the truth is a problem it's time to rethink your priorities.

• Fallyn said on Dec 03, 2007....

  exactly....i completely agree.

• wombat said on Dec 03, 2007....

  Oh!  Good one for me to answer here...
   
  I was told (and made fun of for believing) that there was no Santa Claus when I was at recess in the first grade.  I didn't care one whit whether or not there was a Santa--I was emabarrased and humiliated at being made fun of for some stupid thing that my mother and sister's had told me and made me into a fool for believing!   I got mad!
   
  To this day, I attribute this experience to my getting so upset, angry and embarrased when someone pulls a good one on me, then laughs when I fall for it. 

• Fallyn said on Dec 03, 2007....

  so.....you were told there was a santa? and then your schoolmates told you there wasn't and made fun of you?

• sheltercrow said on Dec 03, 2007....

  

  Exactly...

• wombat said on Dec 03, 2007....

  Fallyn:  Probably not clear writing there--sorry.  I was told there was no Santa by other kids at recess--and I got mad because my family had made a fool of me--and let me be made a fool of at school when I was arguing that there was.  I still hate it when people laugh at me for being stupid enough to believe something untrue and off the wall. Maybe I am mad at myself for being so gullible!

• wombat said on Dec 03, 2007....

  P.S.  At least, after that, I was smart enough to figure out that the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy were lies also...ha...  and I told my son at a fairly young age that that we had been teasing, and explained why---that it was just a fun fairy tale thing.  As I recall, he said, "I know."

• Fallyn said on Dec 03, 2007....

  shelter....that didn't make any sense to me, sorry, i didn't understand what you're trying to say.
  
  wombie....i'm extremely gullible......so i understand....i'm really glad my parents didn't try to do that.
  
  
  

• vacantmind said on Dec 03, 2007....

  When I was little my mother told me stories of Santa and how she even saw him. I totally believed her. At some point my older siblings spilled the beans and I confronted my mother about her lies. She told me that Santa wasn't a person. He was the spirit of sharing. As long as we extended our hands to help others we were keeping the spirit of Santa alive. We were taught to share what we have even when we didn't have much to share. This was a concept that made alot of sense to me and it is what I told my children.

• Fallyn said on Dec 03, 2007....

  did you try to have them believe in santa first?
  
  i like that a lot.
  

• vacantmind said on Dec 03, 2007....

  I did when they were really little but I shared my mother's story with them around 4 or 5. I thought her story really did sum up the meaning of Santa. I think that is what my grandmother told her. She was one of seven kids and my grandmother probably got tired of breaking the bad news about Santa.

• Fallyn said on Dec 03, 2007....

  oh, i'm sure she must have.
  
  

• secretlife said on Dec 03, 2007....

  you mean there's no such thing as santa?

• designedmoreforpublic said on Dec 03, 2007....

  I don't remember ever believing in santa- but i come from a very dysfunctional poor family.
  My 9 year old son no longer believes - he was told by an older school friend.  :-(
  My near 6 yr old goes back and forth... she isn't sure ... she hears her brother, but she wants to believe.

• Eilan said on Dec 03, 2007....

  My grandma still believes in Santa, and she's 83!  Many years ago, she had a conversation with the pastor of her church.  The pastor told her that it's wrong to tell children about Santa Claus because it's wrong to lie to them.
  
  My grandma responded that some of her happiest childhood memories were of anticipating the arrival of Santa and opening her gifts on Christmas morning and that she never, ever believed that her parents misled her in any way.  I blogged about it some time ago, but it should come as no surprise that the pastor asked her not to return to his church.  Not because of that incident alone, but because she was fond of questioning/disagreeing with him.
  
  My two oldest daughters do a good job of trying to believe in Santa, but they're starting to realize that we're getting the gifts.  We're not a religious family, so I try to instill the spirit of giving in my girls all year around.
  

• queenparanoia said on Dec 03, 2007....

  well i first knew that there was no santa when i got the wrong gift! and then my mother told me that she'll get a better gift if i return to her the gift santa gave me.... plus  saw her sneak the gift. and told me santa gave it... but i think it was sweet because we were poor back then.... it was sweet my mother would give us gifts eventhough i know we cant afford it... 

• Fallyn said on Dec 03, 2007....

  secret.......well...there might be......
  
  eilan....that's soooo sweet!!!........i think i'd really like your grandma.
  
  queen...that is really sweet!
  
  

• Eilan said on Dec 03, 2007....

  My grandma's amazing.  But she's 85, not 83.  My math skills suck almost as much as my reading comprehension skills!

• Fallyn said on Dec 03, 2007....

  designed.......did you choose to tell them about santa because you felt deprived and didn't believe when you were little?
  
  
  85.....83....*shrug* not a huge difference. *grin*
  

• Twylarants said on Dec 03, 2007....

  The minute my #2 son decided he no longer believed he felt it was his duty to tell the others but they didn't trust him.  I told them that as long as you believe in Santa there is a Santa.  If you stop believing, Mommy and Daddy have to buy the presents and that's when you get clothes for Xmas.   
  

• Fallyn said on Dec 03, 2007....

  twyla.
  that's AWESOME!!! i love it.
  

• preacherman said on Dec 03, 2007....

  Nope, I never believed in Santa.  My dad died of polio when I was 3 yrs. old.  For a long time, I didn't believe in anything.

• Fallyn said on Dec 03, 2007....

  *HUGS* i can imagine you didn't. that is very sad.

• travelr712 said on Dec 04, 2007....

  i absolutely believed in santa as a child. i guess i really didn't have any choice. all the adults and other children around me did everything they could to support that belief. but by the time i was 8, i understood the difference between a mythical iconic personality and a real historical person.
   
  i don't tell the little guy that there is no santa, but i don't promote the beliefe either. he'll figure out for himself what the truth is, and it won't be more than a year or two. until then, i don't think it's a bad thing for him to believe in that sort of thing. i guess we all believe in things that aren't true, at least for awhile, huh?

• Fallyn said on Dec 04, 2007....

  trav.....i think it totally depends on the kid.......it's good that your belief wasn't shattered and just ended naturally though.

• skald said on Dec 04, 2007....

  We have Santa mixed with our yule swains which are at least 13. I soon know it was just a fairy tale and it did not affect me at all. It was fun just the same. A teacher told my boy when he was 6 that there was no Santa nor yule swains and he was disappointed but there was not taking that back. My 6 years old grand son says now that Santa and the yule swains are just acted by usual people and he does not seem to mind. 

• Fallyn said on Dec 04, 2007....

  skald....i'm curious....what are yule swains?

• satyr said on Dec 04, 2007....

  I began doubting Santa Claus after I stayed up all one Christmas night listening for him (or at least I thought I did).  I asked my parents if he existed shortly thereafter.  Their response (and the one that we used with our children is well) went something like this:
   
  Me:  Mom, is Santa Claus real?
   
  Mom: Yes dear, Santa Claus is the spirit of Cristmas.
   
  By the time we understood what they were actually telling us, we were old enough to appreciate it.  So, in our house, Santa Claus is real.

• Fallyn said on Dec 04, 2007....

  thats' neat satyr!

• husbandhater said on Dec 04, 2007....

  I was told Santa existed but at the age of 5 I remember falling asleep then sneaking out to the living room late at night and finding my mother NOT Santa putting the presents underneath the tree from a big black garbage bag. Talk about reality check. Mama is SANTA. I was never the same after that no matter how she tried to explain that she was one of his helpers.
   
  My older kids know I'm Santa but my husband wants to keep the dream alive for the 4yrold although I know he has his doubts.

• Fallyn said on Dec 04, 2007....

  awww that's sweet........sad when they grow up though isn't it.

• harriedpsychmajor said on Dec 04, 2007....

  My parents tried it on me, but I got wise to them when I was about 8 or 9. At that age, the kids at school and around the neighborhood. So during the morning I asked if we could come down.
  Me: Can we come down?
  Mom: Not yet.
  Me: Well, Santa's gone, isn't he?
  Mom: Yeah but... uh, we gotta clean up the reindeer shit in the living room.
  Me: I don't smell anything...
  
  But the dead giveaway was when I looked on the tag on the presents...
  To: Dave
  From: Santa
  ...in my father's extremely distinct handwriting.
  

• Fallyn said on Dec 04, 2007....

  *LAUGHING* you're mom told you there was reindeer shit in the living room???

• designedmoreforpublic said on Dec 04, 2007....

  No- I didn't tell them.
  My son heard from a boy 2 yrs older (neighborhood friend).
  My son told my dtr.
  Now, when she asks me, I don't want to lie - so I respond by saying, "do you believe there is a Santa?"

• PassionTraveler said on Dec 04, 2007....

  As late as age 12, I still believed in all of it, Santa, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy. Prior to that age, if anyone tried to tell me otherwise, I "counseled" them into believing.
  
  I can remember my cousin sharing this truth with me. Instead of having my hopes dashed, I decided she was misguided and in need of therapy, soooo I played therapist and tried to give her hypnotherapy to convince her otherwise. In retrospect, a hilarious picture, to be sure. Whether or not I convinced her, she played along, and left me with my illusions intact. LOL
  
  It was when I was around 12 that the Tooth Fairy forgot to visit. My grandparents fessed up, and I cried for hours. After that, the holidays were never the same. I hated them in fact. Then, when I was old enough with minor amounts of allowance and part-time work money to "play Santa" -- stuffing stockings, buying gifts, wrapping presents -- it became fun again. Seeing the faces of others when I played Santa made it all worthwhile.
  
  I'm hoping to find a way to Play Santa again or be with friends and family because I'm really feeling the pains of an empty Christmas especially after last year. It was the first Christmas fresh after Steven's death. I was supposed to spend it with a girlfriend, but the plans fell through and I spent Christmas alone.
  
  I don't ever want to do that again, even if it means inviting myself to someone's festivities (someone I know would take me in on a moment's notice, of course).
  
  I'm, finally, getting back my childlike belief in the extraordinary. And I plan to make the most of it! So, Santa, I've got a list and have checked it twice so you don't have to. I finally have a fire place, and will leave cookies and milk. My stocking will be hung by my chimney with care. See you sometime Christmas Eve.
  
  PT
  

• Fallyn said on Dec 04, 2007....

  oh pash....*HUGS* i hope christmas is good again ! *HUGS*

• PassionTraveler said on Dec 04, 2007....

  It will be, Fallyn. I'll make sure of it. I'm strong now. Last year, I was still pretty broken.
  
  PT
  

• travelr712 said on Dec 04, 2007....

  pt - that's my favorite part too. i don't even care if i get nothing for christmas, i just like buying gifts for other people and watching them enjoy them. and i spend christmas alone last year too. it sucked!!!!!

• Fallyn said on Dec 04, 2007....

  *HUGS for pash* i hope so.
  
  
  

Comment on "Santa- poll"

Currently tagged	santa children belief memories (Click to add tags below)
Tag this post	(Separate tags using commas, for example: New York, dating, vegetarian)
Your comment