My 10 year old still believes in Santa

[Anonymous]

Do I tell her he's not real or just wait it out and hope no one from school makes fun of her or spills the beans? I have to confess I totally love that we get another year of Santa, but I don't know if I should tell or not. She does have some cognitive issues/LDs so she hasn't put together the logic part of it (a man going around the world in one night delivering toys, flying reindeer, etc.) which is how I and I think most kids figure it out. WWYD?

[Anonymous]

I think if you tell her you'll regret it. My SIL believed FOREVER - not sure exactly how old she was but older than 10, I think - and my in laws still remember how devastated she was when she accidentally saw "Santa's" wrapping paper peeking out from under MIL's bed. If you don't think something like that will happen I'd just let it be (and enjoy the fun!)

[Anonymous]

You may want to start introducing some doubt and see if she can figure it out on her own. Like, "do your friends still believe in Santa, Larla?" or "What Santa gift should we buy for your dad this year?"

[Anonymous]

I say let her believe. Let her enjoy it. She will figure it out on her own eventually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I say let her believe. Let her enjoy it. She will figure it out on her own eventually.

Are you sure she still believes or is she telling you she believes to make you happy?

[Anonymous]

My 12 year old asked me this year. Since she asked, I told the truth. She cried and cried and said I wish you didn't tell me, but I didn't want to lie to her face if she was asking.

Let her believe unless she asks. There's good info online of how to explain it.

[Anonymous]

My nephew is in 7th grade and still believes. I think this is way outside the range of normal.

10 year old is probably in her last year. Just enjoy it.

My sisters rule of thumb (different parent than above child) - no child should enter middle school believing in Santa. I tend to agree with this sister, not the one with the 7th grader.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My nephew is in 7th grade and still believes. I think this is way outside the range of normal.

10 year old is probably in her last year. Just enjoy it.

My sisters rule of thumb (different parent than above child) - no child should enter middle school believing in Santa. I tend to agree with this sister, not the one with the 7th grader.

I'm 52 and those of you non-believers are simply heathens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I say let her believe. Let her enjoy it. She will figure it out on her own eventually.

x2. I'm 50 years old and I still believe. I refuse to tell my children anything else.

(for those who will get all worked up with the "lying to your children" angle, for me, it's more about what Santa represents than whether a particular individual exists. And, I want them to maintain their innocence for as long as possible. They have the rest of their lives to be adults, but such a short time to truly be kids.)

[Anonymous]

My nine year old seems to believe. But partly I think she's just hoping its true because to her it means more gifts.

[Anonymous]

My 11yo does, too, but he rarely talks about it so I would never go out of my way to tell him. He just says "we have to put out cookies for Santa," for example. I think it's more of the tradition that he likes.

[Anonymous]

She probably knows the truth and is just playing along for your sake and/or to get more presents.

[Anonymous]

My first-year non-believer said the other day, "Can you still put 'From Santa' on some of the gift tags?"

Made me teary-eyed. It's hard to give it up!

[Anonymous]

10 year olds can still believe in Santa. If some kid spills the beans, just ask your DD what she thinks and go from there.

We eased our kids into "breaking the Santa story" by talking about being Santa for our pets. They'd go shopping with us and pick out gifts for the pets, and we'd ask if they'd like to pick out one from them and one from Santa. They'd help us wrap & label the tags. If they had asked (they never did) we would have said that Santa can't take care of people AND pets, so we have to be Santa for our pets. By the time our kids were old enough to realize there's no Santa, they'd already been well trained in being Santa for the family pets and other people, so it was an easy transition to understanding Santa is just an easy way to describe joyful generosity to children too young to grasp it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My nephew is in 7th grade and still believes. I think this is way outside the range of normal.

10 year old is probably in her last year. Just enjoy it.

My sisters rule of thumb (different parent than above child) - no child should enter middle school believing in Santa. I tend to agree with this sister, not the one with the 7th grader.

I'm 52 and those of you non-believers are simply heathens.

Middle school is filled with heathens who are ready and willing to tease the heck out of the believers.