I am struggling with this. My oldest boy is 8 and very smart. He doesn't go to public school, but interacts with kids in cub scouts, etc. I don't want him getting made fun of because he might still believe in Santa. I kind of think he has it figured out (but is not completely sure), but I also have a 6 year old daughter that still loves the idea of Santa Claus.

Did you sit them down and tell them - did they hear it from someone else - if so, at what age??

My kids are 23 and 22 now, so I don't remember the exact ages. My oldest son finally came right out and asked me; I think he must have been around 8 or so. I asked him if he really wanted to know and he said yes (which told me that he already kind of knew). So I was honest with him in a gentle way. He said that he already kind of knew, but then later he confessed that he was sorry that he had asked me. I don't remember my youngest son ever asking me for the truth about Santa; I'm guessing that his brother must have told him.

Even now that my boys are young college men, I still wake them up on Christmas morning by telling them that Santa was here.

That's really cool! I don't plan on changing a thing gift-wise. They will still get a gift from Santa until they have kids of their own. My mom & dad did it that way, and I loved it. There was always one gift under the tree for each of us from "Santa" on Christmas morning.

It is just such a magical time for kids who believe in Santa - I hate to destroy that feeling!! I was disappointed as a kid when I found out, but I still loved thinking about Santa.

My boys still get things in their Christmas stockings, LOL. Except now instead of things like Silly Putty and pencils, it's Starbucks cards and small, inexpensive gadgets like ice scrapers and tire pressure gauges. One thing that they will always get, though, is the little mesh bag of foil-wrapped chocolate coins.

I was 3 years old. My older brother and sister brought me downstairs as "Santa" and "Mrs. Claus" were putting out the Christmas gifts.

I got a puppy that year so I didn't really mind at the time. However, one of the neighbors would dress up as Santa and hand out gifts to the kids (gifts the parents had labeled and given to Santa ahead of time) and I would never go to Santa. I think in my mind Santa was a stranger using gifts to try and kidnap me.

My mom was pretty upset with my siblings when she found out years later that they had done that.

I was kind of old before I stopped believing... I was a gullible kid and I didnt listen to all the kids telling me he wasnt real.... I found out because I found my moms shopping list and it just so happens the things she bought were things I got from Santa...

My son was about 8 when my ex sent him out to get her purse out of her car in the garage...forgetting Santa had made a stop in there! We were thinking that it was time to tell him but thought we would after Christmas...the time presented itself!

I am sure the oldest usually believe the longest, in less they hang out with kids that have older siblings.

You don't want your son to get embarrased either...there is a fine line on when...my guess is you are there...since you seem to be concerned.

Good luck!

Nothing beats that SANTA MAGIC...fun times....

DS10 is deeply suspicious but isn't ready to commit, because he might be wrong. Bless his little heart - he's probably headed for a job in politics. :P

I have two boys, 9 and 6, and both of them still believe, but I think the oldest is very suspicious. He really wants to believe, though, so I'm not saying anything.

My mom accidentally told me when I was 8 or 9. I told her that none of the kids in my class believed in Santa anymore, and she thought that I meant I didn't believe, either. Not the best way to find out.

There is no Santa?!!?


My kids all found out around the age of 8 because they asked me. My son is 10 and just told me the other day that he was not sure and that if I had said there was a Santa he would have believed me. I kind of wish I had had one more year of him believing.

I wiped out my youngest sister's belief in magic in one fell swoop. She asked - well really told me "Santa isn't real, is he?" (I was 23 and she was 7). It was obvious that she knew, so there was no point lying to her, I just confirmed that Santa was like the Easter Bunny and the tooth fairy, and she responded shocked "They're not real, either!"

I felt like a complete Grinch, but when my brother and I were little, Santa was the last holdeout (I think because the gifts were best). I figured out the tooth fairy when I woke one morning when my dad was getting ready for work (4am), and I got up and told my dad that the tooth fairy had forgotten to come, and before I got back to my bed, the quarter was there (mom was still pretending to be asleep) so to me it confirmed the existence of the tooth fairy - until I decided to be helpful the next morning and make my parents bed for them and found my hastily hidden tooth envelope under my mother's pillow.

In my case, I pretty much figured it out in second grade during a post-Christmas a show and tell. The obvious unfairness of the gifts "Santa" brought to the kids (and the fact that some very nice kids didn't get a visit from Santa at all), proved to me that Santa did NOT know who had been naughty and nice. The rich kids (even the ones who were really mean) got great gifts, the poorest kids (even the nicest) got small gifts or no gifts at all.

Not only did I figure it out, it made me hate my 2nd grade teacher even more. She was one of those sadistic teachers you suspected as a child (and as an adult) went in to teaching just so they could torture small children. The ones who put on such a sweet-faced act to parents during parent-teacher conferences, and in front of other teachers, and then transformed into satan incarnate the moment she was the only adult in the room.

Since forever my two adult kids have gotten gold foil-wrapped chocolate coins in the toe of their stockings.

But after I started this healthy journey four years ago, DW and I have moved away from HFCS chocolate. So, I had the best idea; I insert five US $1 coins that are gold colored. They love it and dive for it like $5 was big money.

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Could I get a sock this year BILL?

I was somewhere between 7 and 9 when I figured it out. My parents stuck with the Santa story for at least 2 years after I told them I knew... which annoyed the heck out of me. Even now, my mom tends to write "From Santa" on at least one of my gifts every year.

I had crushed a classmate's belief in leprechauns in 1st grade ("I don't know who left them in your room, but those are just Canadian dollars...") and felt TERRIBLE so I knew better when I figured out the truth about Santa -- I didn't mention it to anyone! (I did slip up again later, in 6th grade, when I explained how babies were made and made two girls cry.)

My oldest was about 10(he's 16 now),but I think he suspected earlier.He was mad when he found out the truth and wanted to know why adults would lie to him.When I explained that it's the idea behind "Santa" and the giving...he wasn't as mad anymore.He's 16 now and helps me keep the spirit of Santa alive for my 7 year old.I'll be sad the day he figures it out.

My mom still has a gift for my sister and me from Santa