What age do kids generally stop believing in Santa?

[Drury18]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Yep, that's who I referenced above. Krampus. In our little village, it was probably some teen dressed up as the devil, with a broom of thorns, chasing the little kids around the streets at night. Totally scared the crap out of us kids, but after that, Santa came and gave us presents...so all in all, totally worth it.

Okay that's more terrifying then the version I heard about Krampus.

The version I heard (from a Slovak) was that you went into the town square for the celebration and there would be an angel and Krampus that came around on December 5th asking each child their name. If you were listed in the giant book, the angel would give you a small something. If you weren't in this giant book, Krampus would put you in his bag and drag you off to be eaten to dragged to the depths of hell.

[dino7c]

some of you sound like you would love to take a kid to disneyland just to rip the head off of goofy. Life is hard enough...let kids be kids for as long as possible

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

I really don't think that's true.

What part? We have kids write Santa a letter telling them what gifts they want and why they should have them, we put them on Santa's knee and have them tell him what they want for Christmas, we tell them to behave or Santa won't bring them anything.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Hockeyguy15

Why would it suck? The only reason kids even care about Santa is because they get gifts from him, once the kids realize they still get the gifts they still love Christmas.

Because it's fun. It's special to believe in magic. To believe there's a benevolent guy that goes around bringing joy to your home for the sake of bringing joy. To think that every little kid in the world is having the same special day you are.

There is a lifetime to face reality. Making childhood special for your kid is a responsibility and most of us are lucky enough on this forum to be able to provide that for our children.

I can't think of a better way to articulate this for you. It's just intrinsically nice and good. If you can't understand that on an intuitive level, let alone with my half-ass response and that of others, then there isn't much more we can say.

One other point, though. Once Santa goes, so too go elves, and flying reindeer, and sleighs. Forget Rudolph. No more letters to Santa. Sitting on his lap. Seeing and meeting him. He's the lynch pin for a lot of what makes Christmas special for little kids. I think being dismissive of how important he is for your kids and others' kids shows a disrespect for our traditions and for the effort so many of us put into adding to the happiness for kids around this time of year. And for nothing. There's no upside to prematurely telling the truth. Just be fun, man.

[TheyCallMeBruce]

Why Santa? The chinese have a better Santa. His name is Choy Sun, and he showers you with gold and money. Tell your kid about him instead and be rewarded with gold bars!

[Kybosh]

Originally Posted by TheyCallMeBruce

Why Santa? The chinese have a better Santa. His name is Choy Sun, and he showers you with gold and money. Tell your kid about him instead and be rewarded with gold bars!

Damn Chinese hogging the golden showers.

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Because it's fun. It's special to believe in magic. To believe there's a benevolent guy that goes around bringing joy to your home for the sake of bringing joy. To think that every little kid in the world is having the same special day you are.

There is a lifetime to face reality. Making childhood special for your kid is a responsibility and most of us are lucky enough on this forum to be able to provide that for our children.

I can't think of a better way to articulate this for you. It's just intrinsically nice and good. If you can't understand that on an intuitive level, let alone with my half-ass response and that of others, then there isn't much more we can say.

One other point, though. Once Santa goes, so too go elves, and flying reindeer, and sleighs. Forget Rudolph. No more letters to Santa. Sitting on his lap. Seeing and meeting him. He's the lynch pin for a lot of what makes Christmas special for little kids. I think being dismissive of how important he is for your kids and others' kids shows a disrespect for our traditions and for the effort so many of us put into adding to the happiness for kids around this time of year. And for nothing. There's no upside to prematurely telling the truth. Just be fun, man.

I'm not saying to tell your kid that Santa isn't real just for fun, however I think the only reason kids care about Santa is because they like getting gifts from him. Once they stop thinking Santa is real and they find out they still get gifts that's pretty much all that matters to them.

Yes it was a dick move for the kid to tell your kid Santa isn't real, but you also dropped the ball with the way you handled it. You made up a new lie, to cover yourself because you didn't think that your kid was ready to hear the truth. Kids hear stuff from other kids at school all the time, likely the only reason your son brought it up to you is because he has doubts of his own to begin with.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Hockeyguy15

Yes it was a dick move for the kid to tell your kid Santa isn't real, but you also dropped the ball with the way you handled it. You made up a new lie, to cover yourself because you didn't think that your kid was ready to hear the truth. Kids hear stuff from other kids at school all the time, likely the only reason your son brought it up to you is because he has doubts of his own to begin with.

Can you please tell me more about your relationship with Sliver's child that allows you to comment so indepth on what was correct or incorrect parenting?

[Wormius]

There are some compelling reasons to allow your kids to believe in Santa Claus.

You can shift responsibility for not getting them the stuff they wanted to him. They can make out wishlists for everything they want and leave you in relative peace. The failure of them getting everything that was on their lists is shouldered by the imaginary big guy or their varying degree of niceness/naughtiness throughout the year. Once they learn the truth, it will be "Daddy, I want this", "I want that", etc. etc.

I think it is a wonderful lie to perpetuate.

[googol]

I've never believed in Santa.
Didn't think my childhood was ruined because of it.

The thought of some guy climbing down the chimney to every house in the world was too far fetched for me to believe.

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Can you please tell me more about your relationship with Sliver's child that allows you to comment so indepth on what was correct or incorrect parenting?

I told my son that parents of bad kids tell them Santa isn't real since he won't go to bad people's houses. My son bought that explanation and it felt really good throwing the other kid under the bus.

"My dad said that your parents told you there was no Santa because you are a bad kid"

Probably not the best way to go about the so and so said Santa isn't real discussion.

[Frank MetaMusil]

Believing in Santa is healthy for kids, psychologists say

"I don't think it's a bad thing for kids to believe in the myth of someone trying to make people happy if they're behaving," said Dr. Matthew Lorber, a child psychiatrist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "Imagination is a normal part of development, and helps develop creative minds."

I think I realized he wasn't real when Santa had the same handwriting as my dad, can't remember what age I was though.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Drury18

Okay that's more terrifying then the version I heard about Krampus.

The version I heard (from a Slovak) was that you went into the town square for the celebration and there would be an angel and Krampus that came around on December 5th asking each child their name. If you were listed in the giant book, the angel would give you a small something. If you weren't in this giant book, Krampus would put you in his bag and drag you off to be eaten to dragged to the depths of hell.

Funnily enough, I was born in Slovakia and don't remember doing that. My Krampus experience was in Austria though, and definitely the scariest of my Xmas youth, ha.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by googol

I've never believed in Santa.
Didn't think my childhood was ruined because of it.

The thought of some guy climbing down the chimney to every house in the world was too far fetched for me to believe.

I don't remember believing either. Maybe I did when I was too young to remember now, but I do remember being in grade school and thinking; "you kids really believe in that?". I don't think my parents pushed the idea that hard.

[devo22]

Originally Posted by Drury18

Okay that's more terrifying then the version I heard about Krampus.

The version I heard (from a Slovak) was that you went into the town square for the celebration and there would be an angel and Krampus that came around on December 5th asking each child their name. If you were listed in the giant book, the angel would give you a small something. If you weren't in this giant book, Krampus would put you in his bag and drag you off to be eaten to dragged to the depths of hell.

what it pretty much boils down to here in Austria is that the Krampusse are the helpers of St. Nikolaus and the idea is that the good children get presents from Nikolaus, while the bad children are punished by the Krampus. The second thing never happens though, it's more of a symbolic reminder to the children. What usually happens is that St. Nikolaus and one or two Krampusse visit schools and stuff around December 5th and the children sing songs or tell a poem for the Nikolaus and then they get a small present (usually a combination of sweets, oranges and nuts). It's actually pretty cool for kids (at least it used to be), although the Krampus is scary as hell ...

Then there's another thing which is the Krampuslauf. This is a very long tradition where a lot of Krampusse gather and banish evil ghosts. The several Krampuspassen (which is basically a bigger group of Krampusse) make a lot of appearances at Christmas markets, town festivals etc. The biggest one is always on December 5th or 6th and basically every town has one of those festivals at town square. The tradition has changed a lot though and now it's more about the different Passen trying to outrival each other with their fire shows and stuff. Unfortunately for some guys it's also just an excuse to be allowed to beat people up while being in their costumes ... also some guys just totally #### on tradition and put stupid LED lights and stuff on their costumes, which is a travesty to be honest. Those festivals are always a great opportunity to meet friends and drink a lot of great Austrian beer though

If you want to take a look, this is a video of one of those festivals in a town near to my hometown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3Wy37bBp0I

sorry for off-topic, but I never expected to read about Krampusse on a Canadian ice hockey forum

[Schraderbrau]

If a 7 or 8 year old still believes in Santa that is perfect. There is way to much crazy stuff in the world these days and it's that magic that we all need more of. I have a 3 and 5 year old and this is the time of the year that i love the most, when they finally realize how things work it will be a sad day for me.

Let them believe as long as they can.

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

Originally Posted by Sliver

So my son is 7 and in Grade 2. One of his monkey friends told him yesterday that Santa is just your mom and dad.

I told my son that parents of bad kids tell them Santa isn't real since he won't go to bad people's houses. My son bought that explanation and it felt really good throwing the other kid under the bus.

I doubt we'll be able to keep the secret much beyond this year, though. When did you guys drop the bomb, or did you just wait for them to find out through their friends? My daughter is 8 and she's still a believer. IDK, it just makes it more fun having that magic around the house this time of year.

Wait, all I'm getting from this is you felt really good throwing a 7 year old under the bus because as a child he was having a tough time understanding the complexities around what telling other the truth about Santa might do?

I'd get it if it was the parent who was telling your kid, not their place and they should know better, but really you were annoyed with a 7 year old for not being able to process all the consequences for their actions?

[Northendzone]

so who was that guy mommy was kissing?

[Madman]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

I teach grade 5 and 6, so I have kids between 9 and 11. At that point they all know Santa isn't real (except for a couple) so we talk about it. We talk about how it is a tradition and I question them on whether it is important or not to preserve traditions in our society regardless of whether we know them to be true or not. I usually have them write in December about a cultural or societal tradition that they carry on or pass down or try to preserve, and ask them to explain why it's important.

IMO Sliver, I would approach it like this. Ask your son what he thinks. Ask questions and see what he has to say. If he questions Santa's existence, ask him why. If he gives a well thought out rational argument as to why Santa can't exist, congratulate him and explain why it's important he doesn't ruin it for anyone else. If he says it's because the kid in his class told him, tell him that's no reason to believe anything and teach him that you can't just blindly trust other people to tell you the truth. Sometimes you have to look at the evidence, use your brain, and figure things out for yourself.

Awesome answer, thanks.

Our 9 year old has it figured out and I really didn't know the best way to explain it to him and this really helped out.

[edn88]

My oldest started asking questions when he was 5 - he's a pretty analytical and observant kid, and the math didn't add up and enough movies had put doubt in his mind. When he asked then, we told him if he believe in Santa then there was one.

Some where between then and last Christmas (when he was 7) he had discounted Santa and was making up his own story - he thought that the presents that came to our house were delivered by the neighbors etc.

I am glad he knows the truth, I always hated the lie (same as Easter bunny, tooth fairie etc). When he was losing his first tooth, I blurted out that there was no tooth fairie, and my wife was ready to kill me.