If you can remember, what made you stop believing in Santa & how old were you?

[Illinoismom]

I try to tell my children its what you believe in your heart, My children are 18,15,8,6 and the 8 year old is having a hard time with classmates. But she is still hanging on and believing. Once you stop believing you have to grow up and everything becomes so cruel and mean sometimes. I have gone as far as telling the older two I wrapped empty boxes and Santa sent the elves to come get them to be filled. I find new ways every year to try and keep the spirt of Santa alive.

 

This 8 year old asks Santa every year for presents of children who's parents don't have a lot, ( like we do but we don't) . This year the elderly was in her letter to Santa to not forget them and to bring them a little something.

 

I am not sure about the 6 year we have not gotten that far with him, although he got a letter from one of Santa's elves that said he was on the bottom of the good list and he didnt like that to well

[scarface]

all you people dont believe . He's real i tell ya, all those in the malls are his helpers and sends him kids lists;) . And one year i saw the reindeer prints on my roof. Yep yep, ( if you believe that i'll tell ya another)

[Happy2616]

I think I was about 11 or 12 when I stopped believing. Every year I would shake my presents and try to guess what they were. Well, when I was about 11 or 12 I saw one that said from SANTA! The other ones were from my parents and written in cursive. I also let them believe that I still believed in santa because I thought I would receive more gifts.

 

Now my 10yr old son says that this year he will figure out if santa is really real. He says that his cousin told him to check out the handwriting. I am sure he will figure it out this year.

[Karmarose]

My neighbor was 11 and I was 5 and she told me that Santa wasn't real, Michael Jackson was white, the colors black and white aren't really colors AND that a little girl froze to death that winter when she had to go outside to pee because they didn't have plumbing. She was thorough, but the funny thing was our water got turned off that winter and I refused to go outside to pee until the sun was up. I did still believe in Santa though since we went out to eat dinner on Christmas eve that year and when we got home Santa had brought presents, let the dog in and put a bow on her. LOL It was actually THE most perfect Christmas ever. We also had snow drifts the next day to the top of the doors! I just hope my kids can look back and have at least one great Santa Christmas.

[Karmarose]

Now my 10yr old son says that this year he will figure out if santa is really real. He says that his cousin told him to check out the handwriting. I am sure he will figure it out this year.

My mother never wrote on packages and our stockings never had names. My kids stockings have names, but I still refuse to write on the packages. Each kid gets a pile or stack and I put an ornament or decoration with their name done on it on top.

[shopping mom]

When I was around 7 we traveled from NY to my grandparents house in VA. We got there rather late on Christmas Eve. When we got out of the car i heard jingle bells, saw a flashing red light in the sky ,and just knew I was going to miss Santa if I did not get in bed. After that I believed for a long time.

[Gporter34]

Actually I never believed in Santa, but I have always loved Christmas.

[BFJedi]

My older brother and I were maybe 9 and 10 years old. We spent alot of time playing with G.I. Joes in our basement, so we were alone alot. One December day we got nosy and wanted to look in dad's standalone 'college closet' in the unfinished side of the basement, not because we were looking for presents, but because we wanted to see what dad put in there. We'd seen in the closet before, but never long enough to really pick up 'junk' and analyze it. I guess we were bored enough one day to get interested in looking at junk. We were shocked as hell when we opened the door and saw the G.I Joe Blackbird jet and bunch of Transformers. We realized then and there that our parents were 'santa' because it wouldn't make sense that dad was stashing G.I Joes with his college junk.

 

Rather than revealing what we knew, my brother and I took it to the next step. We logically came to the conclusion that the closet was not big enough to hold the quantity of presents we typically saw under the tree Christmas each year. When my parents were not looking we peered in their bedroom closet. Bingo!

 

So we took it to the next level.. still not revealing what we had learned. We played surprised on Christmas day. :)

 

Fast forward to the next year.. after school my older brother and I ruitinely reviewed dad's 'college closet' in the basement and mom/dad's bedroom closet to see what goodies were coming for Christmas :). We sensed mom was on to us because the present volume store was low this year.

 

So again we took it to the next step... We reasoned mom was hiding the presents somewhere else. We had an inkling grandma was in on it too so one Sunday morning after church in December I went on a solo mission up to my grandparent's closet upstrairs. My older brother was keeping everyone busy downstairs. JACKPOT! I found a treasure trove of Transformers!! :)

 

I think everyone assumed I was using the upstairs bathroom. Not so.. the creaking on the old hardwood floors gave up my location in my grandparent's bedroom. Grandma and mom started yelling upstairs asking what I was doing. I wasn't responding. They realized I had found 1987's gift depot, so I quickly lied and said a marble rolled under the door and that's why I opened the closet door (?they heard it open). Santa was over! I went downstairs to explain.

Now instead of keeping the truth secret I blurted out in *astonishment* that Santa wasn't real and my little brother of 6 just walked in from the kitchen at that very moment. I had inadveringly spoiled the magic for him too. I quickly tried to make like I didn't know what I was talking about when I saw the look of disgust on mom's face. I knew she didn't want my little brother to know yet. That's how he found out about the non-existance of 'ol Saint Nick.

[femalesliealot]

My fourth grade teacher told our entire class because she felt we were too old to belive in santa. I know my mother and apparently half of the class's mothers called in and reamed her a new bottom.

[Jenn A]

Oh wow....great topic!

I think I was about 10 ..lol..maybe a little older...but my meanie sister told me.I remember arguing with her up and down that there was too a "Santy Claus"

She told me she'd prve it to me,that there would be a bunny in my stocking and sure enough there it was.I was crushed!She was always mean to me like that...LOL.....

My mom always still made our Christmases really great though :)

[Jenn A]

My fourth grade teacher told our entire class because she felt we were too old to belive in santa. I know my mother and apparently half of the class's mothers called in and reamed her a new bottom.

 

OMGOSH,I would've been so mad at that teacher,too!!

[baraginfinder]

I can't remember exactly but I think I was fairly young, maybe 7 or so, I found all the presents.

That's what happened to me. I was about 9 and we were having Christmas at my grandma's house. I went into her bedroom and I saw lots of presents. The next morning I saw all of the same presents and nothing more. I remember being really disappointed but not surprised.

[mommyt6]

When my younger sister was in kindergarden and I was in the first grade, A little girl that was a friend of my sisters told her that Santa wasn't going to come to their house that year because they didn't have any money. My sister came home and told Mom that if Santa was going to her friends house because she didn't have money then she didn't want him comming to hers. My folks sat down and talked to both of us girls. I think my younger brother(4 years younger) and sister(10 years younger) just caught on after time. But it never diminished the spirit for us.