Wednesday, November 19, 2008

The truth


When is a good time to tell your kids the wonderful truth about Santa. I remember hearing about it at school in second grade. I denied it fervently. When my parents finally told me the truth I was a little mad at them, they had let me make a fool of myself defending a lie. I don't want to wait too long with my kids and have them feel the same thing. But I also don't want to take away the magic too soon.

Any thoughts?

24 comments:

Daybreaking Dickersons said...

Oh I think you have time. Have they asked questions? I think that is when you'll know.

amber belmonte said...

i'm planning to post about this soon. taylor knows that truth and always has. to a lot of people it sounds horrible that we wouldn't LIE to him... lol... but ill explain why when i post about it.

i believed until i was ten.

Kristina P. said...

I sort of think that they will come to you when they are ready, or someone at school will tell them. That's how I found out. In high school.

Brittany Marie said...

My mom said I wouldn't get a Christmas unless I believed in Santa. Santa exists. HE EXISTS.

*MARY* said...

I loved believing in Santa; it really did make Christmas feel so magical. Don't tell them, DON'T EVER TELL THEM!!!

I found out when I was in fifth grade :(

Holdinator said...

We plan on discussing it with our kids when they bring it up, and telling them that the spirit of Santa (generosity and love) is real even if ... you know.

Ryan.Robyn said...

maybe sooner than when grant found out.. remember that?

Jami Broadbent said...

good question. let me know what you decide.

Jessica G. said...

This is why my brother's family doesn't have Santa, because he refuses to "lie" to his kids. Whatever.

Eight sounds like a good age but I'd almost prefer to wait until they ask me instead of bursting their bubble. (And I like holdinator's response!)

mama donk aubri jo said...

what is all this talk about the truth about santa??? is he gay and coming out or something??? i like the whole spirit of santa myself and wait until they are doubting, i don't remember how I figured it out :)

Jessica said...

Yeah, what Bri said. When I was in second grade some kids tried to tell me he wasn't real, and I wouldn't believe them, so they asked this sixth grader to, like, PROVE it to me. He said he believed in Santa, and when they were incredulous, he said, well, maybe not the Santa that comes down the chimney, but in the spirit of Santa Clause. That shut them up, and the only part I caught was, he's real! I knew it! The 6th grader said so! So I never felt lied to, and I can still believe all I want :)

rychelle said...

i just want to start out by saying i still belive in santa.

but, the first person who told me there was no such thing as santa was the mother of my "friend", serena, when i was in the second grade. the mother told us that our parents were liars, and she refused to be one. now, let me state that we didn't ASK her about santa, she just volunteered this information. she was also the one who told my brother he had horns because we were mormon. yeah, she was a real sweet woman.

The Morty's said...

With my oldest I waited until he asked, and then I told him if he was asking, he probably knew the answer, and asked him what he thought, and I just said you are right. Then we discussed the spirit of Santa and the excitiment it brings. I told him if he does not believe in Santa, then Santa does not come. So even though he knows, he still gets excited. But in a way it is easier, too, he knows that money really is an issue with Santa. My youngest, I will treat the same way, I will wait till he comes to me. They are only young once, let them live it fully.

Knapp Time said...

Just make sure you tell them sooner than when Grant found out. He was old enough that he was really mad. Ha ha, but it was so funny. I swear he was like 13.

Christine Peterson said...

Kristina P and Holdinator said it perfectly. Obviously April didn't read Robyn's comment, that was funny. Anyway Grant found out like last year...or something ha ha. we should tell his stalker that, that should make her run!

tracystreehouse said...

are you kidding?!? there's no santa?!?!

Unknown said...

They will start asking fishy.... he talked with one of my kids this year, but honestly, just because he KNOWS hasn't changed a thing...he giglles and leaves a letter for SAnta, he says he is trying to be good, he is egging it on for his little brother....strange, it is almost more fun this year with him. (ANd he is in 4th grade- my hubby didn't want him to be made fun of)

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I blame the typos on the computer... I meant they will ACT fishy ( not ask fishy- geez, that's a whole different kind of craziness!)

kurt and ash said...

I think believing in santa is so much fun! I believed until I was in the 4th grade. (a boy in class broke it to me) My parents still to this day try to pretend like he is real... my mom still writes "from santa" on all presents! haha! I think the magic of believing is what makes xmas so fun... so I say let them believe as long as possible! :)

ALF said...

I remember going to my parents and asking about Santa. I was glad they didn't just tell me.

Lorrie Veasey said...

I told mine that Santa knows when children begin to lose their faith in him, and that he contacts the parents and asks them to take over for him. In telling this, it explains why many of their friends say Santa is their parents: because they lost the faith.

Anonymous said...

I have no idea what you're talking about. When I was in college I told my mom to drop the charade. She told me that the magic of Christmas was in the believing. That year I decided it would be prudent to continue to believe - after all, I really wanted new skis and I didn't want to risk not getting them. I am happy to report that now that I'm a mom of five, I still happily believe. And I'm always pleasantly surprised on Christmas morning to see that Santa didn't forget me!

Sara said...

Rachel asked me straight out- "Is he real mom?" so I told her the truth, because having her know I would tell her the truth was more important to me than all other Christmas-related issues. I said that he is not real, but that the idea of him is real and makes Christmas special and magical, and that she could choose to believe in him if she really wanted to. Or, she could choose not to believe. She still makes a "Santa List" every year. I think if they're not asking you questions, you're okay until they do; but when they ask, I'm for telling the truth.

Heck is for people that don't believe in gosh