How old were you when you learned that Santa Claus wasn’t real?
How old were you when you learned that Santa Claus wasn’t real?
Follow-up: For those with children, do you continue the ruse with your own children, or simply tell them it’s you who gives the gifts? Why or why not?
My six year old has begun to plaintively declare his belief in both magic and Santa, unprompted. I think he fears children who do not play along are not as well rewarded.
I'm the kind of parent who doesn't tell their kids what to believe, but I also don't bullshit him. "You believe in magic. So, you've seen magic?" I don't know why he'd think he needs to pretend. Maybe it's just that he isn't ready to face facts. I don't argue, I just try to make him think.
Around 10, I think... My mother thought she'd tell me about Santa and sex all in one car journey. Thanks for ending my childhood in one fell swoop!
Our kids always knew it was pretend so we all pretend together and everyone has fun. They never say anything to the believers or even the adults because that would ruin the fun. We do cookies and everything.
I don't quite remember if this memory is actually true (my memory has been deteriorating), but I think it was that:
I found out one of my uncles are pretending to be santa (I mean like bruh, they think we kids don't recognize their faces after some disguises). So I just stopped believing in such nonsense. Also decided that deities are almost certainly not real around the same time, and so chrismas technically made me an atheist. I think I was about 8 or 9 at the time.
Edit: I don't have children, and don't plan on it (due to depression), but if I ever had any children, I would never lie like that. That just cause trust issues.
Like I just start speculating that my parents are always plotting against me somehow.
If you are reading this, please dont continue with this nonsense lie, you dont want your kids to turn out to be paranoid and skeptical of everything.
I don't remember actually honestly believing it at any point. It was more like a fun thing in my family, and I was even Santa Claus myself for my little brother when I wasn't that old.
We don't lie, and talk about "who is going to be Santa this year". Treat it like a game. I don't think the youngest quite understands and we don't purposely ruin it, but that the adults are Santa is openly talked about.
Recently one of my kid's friends got an elf on the shelf, and my kid asked what it was. I think that if other parents lie to their kids that's for them to sort out, we can't be expected to lie to our kids to keep up another lie. So I straight out told them what it was and that some parents use it to try to trick their kids into being good. They replied "can I have one?"
When I was 6 or 7, I realized the neighbors (who were absolutely AWFUL) received more presents than my family did and the only difference was that their family made more money.
I started thinking about all the kids in my class, and the ones that got the most presents weren't the nicest kids, they were the ones with the richest parents. Then it clicked.
I was about ten I think. Might have been 11. Figured it out.
No kids but yeah I definitely would tell them about Santa and let them enjoy their childhood. Life sucks. Let them enjoy the first few years.
Edit : I would not tell the truth that Santa is fake. I would tell them the Santa brings presents.
I don't remember how old I was when I figured it out, but I do remember being upset about being lied to about it. I've got 2 kids now, and whenever they would ask about Santa or the Tooth Fairy or anything like that, I would kind of turn the question around and ask how they thought it worked. Sometimes, I miss believing in that sort of magic, and I didn't want to take that from them or lie to them, so that's the balance I found. It seems to be working well. Our oldest had it pretty well figured out by around age 9...our youngest is almost 9 now, and she hasn't straight up told me she knows it's not real, but the kinds of questions she asks and how she reasons through her answers I think she's figured it out mostly as well.
I don't remember a specific age the transition happened, or if I ever actually believed it, but I remember my family getting a PS3 one year for Christmas "from Santa". Sometime in the Summer, I was in the car while my mom was on the phone talking about the PS3 she got for us needing a repair or something. Again it wasn't that I believed in Santa at that point, it just became a core memory of "Oh you lied about that"
I was nine.
Also went a step further and realized ghosts, god, and in general things we're told exist but can't see are mostly fake too.
Around 4. The chimney in the house was too small to fit anything bigger than a fist; somehow my child mind refused to parse the notion of a very fat man sliding down it. Also, the roof was so inclined birds avoided it, so no chance of parking a sled and whatever number of reindeers up there.
I don't push the tale as a fact but I did told it to many children as something we should cherish as a symbol of good will and kindness toward each other. The legend of Odin (the original santa) is always a success and I tell it in the most epic way I find, whith Sleipnir riding the storm clouds in the Great Hunt.
Legends should inspire, not create delusions, is what I go for.
Permanently Deleted
I don't remember believing in Santa, so at the very least it wasn't an important moment of my childhood. Writing letters isn't a common thing where I live, instead we got a thick catalogue and circled everything we liked. I guess that made it pretty obvious from the very beginning.
Whether or not I'd lie to my hypothetical children... I don't know. I guess I don't care either way and would leave it up to my partner.
5 or 6. I don't remember if I figured it out myself or if someone just told me the truth, but I do remember that I quickly started asking my parents if all the other magical beings were real too (Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, etc).
The first time I heard of him was the time I got to know he is the Coca-Cola mascot.
Around 6, when I noticed that my parents would always buy the same wrapping paper that Santa used...
Admittedly I don't remember when I internalized it, but I remember one day during a car ride I'd told my mom, out of nowhere, completely unprompted, "Mom I don't care if Santa is or ain't real, please don't tell me." I don't remember her response, but I was like 8, 9 or so I think.
At that point in time though, NORAD's Santa tracker is what convinced me he must he real lol
When I was 7. It was late one night and I was walking around (when I should have been asleep). I noticed my mother finishing wrapping a present and she asked me to place it under the Christmas tree. I think it just slipped her mind in the moment and she didn’t realize what she had done. I didn’t say anything, but I knew from then the presents from Santa were from my parents. I wasn’t sad, but instead felt like I was just let in on a big secret.
The same age I was when I realized my parents are liars
As a child I wasn't good at accepting much of anything at face value. If I did ever believe I was quite young.
I think I was 3 the year my mom had to work as an Easter Bunny at a photo op to make ends meet, and I'm not sure much belief survived seeing the Easter Bunny rip its head off and reveal my mother inside.
Honestly I never really did. I asked some kid in 5th grade what Santa got him for Christmas and he scoffed at me for still believing. I went, "uhhhh yes... this is information I definitely already knew. Yesssssss..." and never really brought it up with anyone again. ¯\(ツ)/¯
5-6 - same with my kids. Keeping it up for too long risks making them religious as well.
What? You're saying he isn't real? Who punched Arius at the Council of Nicea in 325ad?
Jokes aside.... Sigh... I was 12, it was when I googled it
I don't remember a time when I truly believed that he was real. I remember thinking that it was my parents, but I didn't want to believe that. I wanted to believe that there was a magic dude who would hook me up with presents. But it was illogical and we kept up with the whole thing, because I wanted my parents to enjoy it too.
- We had no chimney and future tech person me saw right through it.
I never grew up with him. So it was never a question for me.
I think I was in my 20s when I realized that some people/kids actually believe in Santa. I was aware of Christmas/Santa, but that it was just a story nobody thought was real. At least I wasn't the girl I met about that time who was telling her friends in first grade that Santa wasn't real.
I belong to of those rare Christian sects that don't believe in Christmas.
I was born low class family from Peru. Nobody has chimneys there, I knew the fucker was avoiding us.
We don't celebrate Christmas. It took me very long to realize that there are children who actually believe in Santa.
I was probably 7 or 8.
I lost a tooth and put it under my pillow without telling my parents. Toothfairy never came.
Didn't believe in any of the mythical things after that.
Edit: Oh and we play along. He's 14 and definitely knows but the wife enjoys it more than he does. So he's milking it and I applaud him for it.
I was 8. Lost a tooth at my grandparents house and my grandpa chose to wait until after sunrise to take the tooth and return some tooth fairy treasures. I first asked for confirmation that the tooth fairy was not real. He nodded. I considered that for a second and then followed up with "and Santa?" He nodded again, I shrugged and went back to sleep.
I kept the secret until they asked directly and just didn't lie. They seemed to have turned out fine.
I was a skeptic since at least the age of six. I remember having to write a letter to Santa in first grade and basically wrote down I didn't believe in him. I wouldn't want to teach my kids the "Santa is real" nonsense, otherwise they might believe God is too.
Around 9, when I was basically up half of the night, and the presents were there, without any noise from the door (we don't have a chimney)
I'm not sure I ever really believed a big fat man would slide down our chimney to deliver presents on his sleigh. The fantasy of it was fun though. For me it was a pretty smooth transition to not doing Santa stuff.
I was on the Plaza, on Black Friday and there were at least 8 Santas. I know cuz' I was one of them. Have you never heard of SantaCon.Info? Of course Santa is real, as real as you make them.
Late teens.
Let children still have the fun into believing into a Santa when the majority of us know that it's us providing the gifts. It's about as much of an asshole thing to do, when you tell a kid during Halloween that they really aren't as they're dressed as.
A bit before I started questioning religion. 9-10 years old?
I realized the note from the Easter bunny was in my father’s handwriting. I felt “in on the joke” and remember that applying to other holidays like Xmas too. I must have been 6 or 8.
I dont think I ever really believed. We lived in a trailer when I was a kid so there wasnt a chimney and Idk why but thats always what stood out to me as a kid. Also at that point there were so many christmas movies where the plot was people not believing and I think that also caused me to think there was a pretty valid reason behind that especially when they pointed out "how does he make it to all the kids houses around the world in one night."
Santa is real; he comes to your bedroom to give you wishes and take your soul...
I think I spelled that right...
I got visit from saint nicolas. And i knew the truth at about 8. We did not have a coca cola commercial to celebrate 25/12. So for that one i do not have a age .
Atm Some kids here know it in 1st year off school ( not kindergarden ) so about 6/7. They talk so when the next year is there : about 90 % knows it. And the year after that it is not more expected to have believers in the klas.
I questioned it around 8 and fully stopped believing around 10. When you behave and ask for the same gift three years in a row you start to wonder. Before that I believed that he was magic and was incredibly fast.
Years ago I didn't want to teach my children about Santa because of the Christian connections, but then I realized why we have holidays over winter. If it makes them happy I'll do it, but I'll also be teaching them about all the other connections to pagan religions when they're old enough to understand.
Six. My lone Jewish friend told me. It was a big old fucking bummer.
I don't know what you're talking about. The only people that believe Santa Claus isn't real or the people who have no joy in their lives.
Even if you say you don't believe he's real there's a part of you that thinks that he might be real and you know it.
I remember my mate at school when I was 6 or so telling me your mum and dad let him. Can’t remember anything beyond that.
To understand the gap between how Santa Claus (or Christmas) is understood and how it actually functions in modern capitalist society it is insufficient to see the problem simply as one of subjective ‘misunderstandings’ held by individuals, classes, or whole peoples. One must investigate the political economy which grounds, that is, which reflects that erroneous image of itself. The gap between the actual “capitalist” Santa and the ideological “communist” Santa is objective, it is required by the existing material relations of social production and reproduction. Capitalist ideology must disguise the cut-throat values of bourgeois individualism with the universalist values of Santa’s socialistic humanism.
-Carlos Garrido
Okay, asking somebody how long they believed in Santa Claus is so stupid, you can't even consider the topic suitable for idle conversation. But if you still wanna know how long I believed in some old fat guy who wears a funky red suit, I can tell you this: I've never believed in him, ever. The Santa that showed up at my kindergarten Christmas festival, I knew he was fake. And I never saw mommy kissing Santa or anything. But I have to say, that even as a little kid, I knew better than to believe in some old man that only worked one day a year. Now, having said that, it wasn't until I got older that I realized that aliens, time travelers, ghosts, monsters, espers, the evil syndicates and the anime/manga/fantasy flick heroes that fight said evil syndicates, were also fake. Okay, I guess I always knew those things were bogus, I just didn't wanna admit it. All I ever wanted was for an alien, time traveler, ghost, monster, esper, evil syndicate, or the hero that fought them to just appear and say "Hey". Unfortunately, reality is a hard road indeed. Yep, you gotta admit, the laws of physics definitely puts a damper on things.
Real ones know 😏