I thought you were going to say your kid found out about an affair or something! If your kid is savvy enough to search through past purchases, then I think it was time for the Santa magic to go.

I was so relieved when my kids no longer believed in Santa. Yes, the magic is gone and that part of childhood is over, but I was happy not to have to keep it up. After three kids and 15 years of years of Santa, I was over it.

OP -- the way your DC found out isn't the way you wanted it, but it was going to happen one way or the other pretty soon. On the school bus, watching something on TV, or just plain figuring it out on their own.

Anonymous wrote:I find it very sad that 3 and 4 year olds don't believe. I remember feeling bad for those kids when I still believed, haha. Joke was on me though lol.

I think this is interesting. When my son was 3 (almost 4), some random man asked him what Santa had gotten him. When my son told him that there was no such thing as Santa, I swear the guy looked like he thought that we were abusing him. The fact is, the boy got plenty of presents and was just as happy as all the other kids ... just without the subterfuge.

I find it very sad that 3 and 4 year olds don't believe. I remember feeling bad for those kids when I still believed, haha. Joke was on me though lol.

I want to be kind here, but I just can’t get over parents deceiving their tween about this. OP, I do see how this could feel sad, but agree that this element of childhood needs to be packed away. It doesn’t mean you can’t still have Christmas and stockings; they will still be fun and the thrill of “someone” coming in the night is still lovely for kids.

We have never pretended that Santa, Tooth Fairy or Easter Bunny is truly real to our kids. They have always known who the “real” Santa is, but still love to pretend. There is a way to do this so that kids can have all the joy of imagination and holiday rituals while still trusting the honesty of their parents.

Anonymous wrote:My kid never believed and our challenge was for him not to tell other kids since he was 3 years old (I think a lot of his friends still believe but he's been good about not spilling the beans on Santa, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, etc.).

My question is, what was your plan? Were you ever going to tell them? How were you planning for them to find out?

P.S. Re: NSFK - If my 6 year old is reading DCUM, belief in Santa is not my biggest issue.

My kid never believed and our challenge was for him not to tell other kids since he was 3 years old (I think a lot of his friends still believe but he's been good about not spilling the beans on Santa, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, etc.).

My question is, what was your plan? Were you ever going to tell them? How were you planning for them to find out?

How is this real? This has to be a troll, right?

Anonymous wrote:Nine and eleven are old enough to know the truth OP. It was bound to happen, honestly you let it go on too long.

And in a teen and tween forum, no less. OP, they are growing up. Be glad it happened at home and not somewhere embarrassing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Both you and your kids sound unhinged.

+1. Seriously.

Another +1. Wow, shocking really.

Your 11 year old will be grateful that they didn't go into middle school talking about Santa Claus. Seriously.

My older kid told her little brother the truth when he was four and she was almost 8. I think I spent about 30 seconds being sad about it. I remember being 5 and catching a glimpse of my dad buying a Barbie camper when my mom was supposed to be keeping me occupied in a different part of the store. I had more of a triumphant "Aha! I thought Santa seemed implausible" moment rather than a moment of tragic loss. I think we're just not sentimental people.

Yet, our Christmas mornings were still fun. You sound like your whole family is going to be scarred for years to come.

My child is Jewish, so we don’t do Santa at our house; he knows Santa isn’t real, and has been coached not to spoil it for other children.

My ILs are not Jewish, and we celebrate Christmas with them at their house. They always have presents “from Santa,” and my DS loves it. He plays along because it’s all about imagination and family tradition. FWIW, there are Santa gifts for me, DH, and my SILs too...as well as gifts to all of us from the dogs, cats, and chickens.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the moment to make this okay for your kids was as soon as they found out, you had an opportunity to paint the picture for them about the magiic that they now get to help create. But if you treated it like a tragedy, a loss, it's no wonder they saw it that way.

We just told our DS the other week. He'll be 12 next week, and my DH was Over. It..

He saw the list when I was not nearby and immediately started crying.

How nice for you that you had time to prep your convo.

Right, and so did you. It's not shocking that kids of 9 and 11 might hear or see or be told something, you had to have thought through this conversation before today. We didn't expect to have the conversation we did, we assumed something would happen to force it sooner.

Again, your job was to SPIN this as positive as soon as you found out. So maybe he cried, but you could have turned it around.

Anonymous wrote:That's what happens when you plan Christmas presents in May!

Not OP, but it's clear the kid was looking at previous purchases from last Christmas. He knew the list matched was Santa had given him.

Amatuer!

"Larlo, how do you think StNick gets the gift orders? Amazon of course! Do you really think he reads the snail mail? It's like 2018......!"