How old were you when you learned that Santa Claus wasn’t real?
How old were you when you learned that Santa Claus wasn’t real?
Follow-up: For those with children, do you continue the ruse with your own children, or simply tell them it’s you who gives the gifts? Why or why not?
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I questioned it around 8 and fully stopped believing around 10. When you behave and ask for the same gift three years in a row you start to wonder. Before that I believed that he was magic and was incredibly fast.
Years ago I didn't want to teach my children about Santa because of the Christian connections, but then I realized why we have holidays over winter. If it makes them happy I'll do it, but I'll also be teaching them about all the other connections to pagan religions when they're old enough to understand.
Why do you need Santa at all? Why not just teach them, every year around this time we give gifts to each other
Same reason why we have the tooth fairy.
Same reason why we create all sorts of other things for kids. To allow kids to be kids and have fun. To help them see the good in the world before we rip the rug out from under them, and show them the world just plain fucking sucks.
I think lying to kids is how you hurt them.
Kids can have fun without that lie: "Let's make cookies together and eat them. Let's hang up stockings and put surprises in them for each other. Let's decorate a tree and make a fun video".
You do you. I don’t see it as a lie, but again you raise your kids as you want.
Same to you! What's a little trauma, right? They'll grow out of it.
If that’s enough to cause them trauma, I kind of feel sorry for any kid with that thin of skin.
Being lied to by your protector and guardian is enough to traumatize anyone at that age. You shouldn't be shaming the people who get hurt by it, you should be shaming the people that do it.
I've never met anyone who could honestly say they were traumatized by finding out Santa wasn't real. I'm 50+ years old.
Unhappy? Yeah.
Sad.. Yeah
Traumatized? No
Many people don't "say" they're traumatized, or even know it. The fact that you've never experienced it doesn't mean it isn't happening.
Have a day. 👋