What age did you find out about Santa?

LH Pathe · 26-12-2011 12:05AM

first heard about Santa when I turned.. 19 or thezaboots. have been a believer ever since

Pretty Polly · 26-12-2011 12:08AM

I was in fifth class so about 10 or 11. I miss those days!!

My name is URL · 26-12-2011 12:19AM

Kev.OC wrote: »

I completely disagree that it's bad and lazy parenting. Yes, it hurt finding out about Santa, but the years before that were absolutely magical, and I wouldn't trade them for the world. And if someday I have kids I'd hate to deprive them of all the joy and happiness which I was fortunate enough to experience.

I don't think it's bad or lazy parenting, but it's a tad naive to believe that constructing and perpetuating the notion of fictitious and all knowing characters is the only, or the best way to ensure that a kid experiences the levels of happiness that you're talking about for one day each year.

jefreywithonef · 26-12-2011 12:31AM

I recognised my mother's handwriting on the cards.

More recently my sister got a card saying:

"To my wonderful daughter,
Love,
Santa"

philologos · 26-12-2011 12:31AM

Dermighty wrote: »

5 years old

I find it stranger that 10 years olds believe in Jesus but not Santa...

Except you do know that there is significantly more historical evidence for the existence of Jesus over the Coca-Cola corporately moulded fad that is Santa Claus?

I hope you all had a great Christmas.

Ah nuts · 26-12-2011 12:45AM

Think I was 2 before I realised how cool he was. Didn't appreciate my presents at 1.

IsMiseLisa · 26-12-2011 12:49AM

I was 7, and an inquisitive little ****. At some stage, I figured out that the bedroom in my grandmother's house was always locked at Christmas. Intrigued, I nicked the key from my grandmother and unlocked the room. Lo and behold: all our Crimbo presents!

Course I then had to parade all my siblings into the room to have a look too.

I was the child who ruined Santy.

Ficheall · 26-12-2011 12:50AM

I found out in sixth class when I was 11. My parents didn't want me being the only kid in secondary school who believed so my dad said to me "Do you really believe in a fat, old man who climbs down chimneys?"
Christmas hasn't been the same since.

I don't see anything wrong with perpetuating the idea of Santa Claus for kids. It's nice to think that there's some magic out there somewhere. This is the closest I can get nowadays.

opinion guy · 26-12-2011 01:42AM

robinph wrote: »

edit. Sorry on mobile in the car at the moment and miss read the context of your message a bit there.

Mobile in the car ? Naughty list for you :P

Aged 9 another kid told me during the summer. All I remember is an overwhelming sense of being lied to and betrayed. Ruined Christmas thereafter. I really have a problem with lying to kids about a magic man in order to get them to behave. And to those who will say - oh but its about the magic of christmas blah blah - I remember no magic, only being lied to.

Kev.OC · 26-12-2011 02:21AM

My name is URL wrote: »

I don't think it's bad or lazy parenting, but it's a tad naive to believe that constructing and perpetuating the notion of fictitious and all knowing characters is the only, or the best way to ensure that a kid experiences the levels of happiness that you're talking about for one day each year.

You could very well be right. I will gladly put my hand up and admit i know absolutely nothing what-so-ever about child rearing. I'm simply stating that as a child I absolutely loved the magic of Christmas, and I still look back on those days with fondness. As a child, Christmas was always viewed with a kind of innocent wonder. There was a magic to Christmas. Now, a sceptical man in my early twenties, sometimes I kinda miss it if I'm honest.

I had to go to Christmas mass last night. Now, I'd hardly be the most religious man in the world. And I can appreciate the hypocrisy of not believing in an all knowing character who created the Universe in 7 days and that, but promoting the notion that kids should believe in an all knowing man who gives out presents to the well behaved. But in my opinion there's just something about believing in Santa as a kid. Some innocent magic.

As I said, I look back very fondly on the Christmases sneaking down the stairs, so I wouldn't frighten Santa off before he finished putting all my presents under the tree (apparently my house must have been last on the list). Maybe it's naive. Frankly I don't care. In my opinion, Santa is a great concept and I wish everyone was lucky enough to experience some of the Christmas magic that comes with believing in him.

opinion guy · 26-12-2011 02:24AM

Kev.OC wrote: »

You could very well be right. I will gladly put my hand up and admit i know absolutely nothing what-so-ever about child rearing. I'm simply stating that as a child I absolutely loved the magic of Christmas, and I still look back on those days with fondness. As a child, Christmas was always viewed with a kind of innocent wonder. There was a magic to Christmas. Now, a sceptical man in my early twenties, sometimes I kinda miss it if I'm honest.

You wouldn't miss it if nobody had lied to you in the first place

superstoner90 · 26-12-2011 02:26AM

padraig91 wrote: »

I know a boy who is 13 or 14 (he is in secondary school) and his parents still have not told him

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-F2HKLzB6c

Undergod · 26-12-2011 02:39AM

philologos wrote: »

Except you do know that there is significantly more historical evidence for the existence of Jesus over the Coca-Cola corporately moulded fad that is Santa Claus?

Not entirely true!
http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/santa/cocacola.asp

EDIT: Well true in that there is probably more evidence for Jesus, not entirely true as in the coca-cola santa relationship.

I think I was either in sixth class or first year when I was told. I kinda knew before then but didn't admit it to myself.

Kev.OC · 26-12-2011 02:42AM

opinion guy wrote: »

You wouldn't miss it if nobody had lied to you in the first place

Very true. Wouldn't change it if I could though. I understand people might be slow to lie to their kids about Santa. Perhaps partially because of the Tooth Fairy and Easter Bunny and those lads. Can't really say to your kids "There's no Tooth Fairy. Or Easter Bunny. But don't worry, Santa is real."

Kinda hard to draw a line somewhere if you go down that road. Looks like a bit of an "all or none" scenario, and people don't want to deceive their children to that extent, or perhaps any extent.

If I'm honest, I'm not looking to get into a discussion on the merits of Santa. There are arguments for and against leading children to believe he's real. Personally, if I ever have kids I want them to believe in Santa.

If you don't share my point of view that's grand. I'm happy to simply agree to disagree.

Birdie086 · 26-12-2011 02:45AM

opinion guy wrote: »

You wouldn't miss it if nobody had lied to you in the first place

Ya but wasn't it great in the meantime, My mam puts a massive emphasis on christmas and I do too, I was about 8 when I found out hasn't emotionally scarred me and I didn't feel betrayed. And I am now upholding the illusion for my five year old.

Wetai · 26-12-2011 02:53AM

What's with TV shows talking about there being no Santa shown early in the day near Christmas? I know kids don't really watch them, but there'd likely be people watching it while there's children in the house.

How I Met Your Mother was on Christmas eve/the day before, they were talking about how they're not going to lie to their children, especially Santa. I was watching it and had to switch it just in case.
My sisters were watching 2 and a Half Men episode around Christmas and had to switch it - there was a character who still believed in Santa who was 20/30 "She still believes in Santa?! [or similar]"

It's grand if they're shown later in the day, after 9 or something, but around 4?

----
I can't remember when, but it was probably getting a little late. There was a smyths sticker on one of my lego sets (Harry Potter, I think) - That was probably a hint about it. I don't think it was my parents who told me, was either myself or some help/confirmation from one of my sisters.

dsmythy · 26-12-2011 03:54AM

opinion guy wrote: »

You wouldn't miss it if nobody had lied to you in the first place

You're probably still smarting about the fact that that person didn't have your nose after all

Killer Pigeon · 26-12-2011 04:29AM

I think I was about 10 y/o.

That Christmas I wanted a Gameboy from Santa. About a week before Christmas I had found the keys to the box-room in my house while my parents were away. I never really had the opportunity to look around in there before and, being the curious child that I was, it had always fascinated me. It was almost as though I thought the room was full of hidden treasures and secrets.

So I went in anyway and, naturally, the room was full old boxes, family albums, old cloths, suitcases, old letters/cards, etc.. I took interest in one old suitcase that was full of old correspondence from the 70/80s between my mother and a few of her cousins/siblings who were living in the US and the UK. The suitcase was laid on top of a large open cardboard box.

I took the suitcase down and started sifting through the letters. I wasn't too enthusiastic about them, nothing really interesting was contained in them; no family secrets and the like. So I was about to put the suitcase back on top of the cardboard box again when I noticed a package inside it. It contained the Gameboy I wanted from Santa. I was shocked, to say the least.

Then my parents came home and I told them what I had seen. They said it was another Gameboy my Uncle had just told them to take care of it for someone else. I shrugged it off but inside I knew they were lying. So that's when I stopped believing in Santa. I came out as a Santa non-believer to my parents just after that Christmas. Thereafter I started to question everything of mythological substance around me. A year later I asked them to stop lying about God as well and just tell me that he wasn't real too, lol.

johnny_ultimate · 26-12-2011 04:41AM

Remember being told very matter-of-factly in the car by my father when we were going to pick up my grandmother sometime before I started secondary school.

In hindsight, the frequent price tag slip-ups were an obvious sign that something was amiss. Oh, to be a blissfully ignorant child again.

Duggy747 · 26-12-2011 04:53AM

Think I was about 8 or 9. Though I had already become abit unsure of the whole thing before I was told thanks to some of my friends who were presumably already told and were turned into miserable, cynical people.

I was convinced I had gotten evidence of the bastard, too, one year. Since he was coming down the chimney I left a piece of cardboard at the foot of the fireplace to catch his dusty footprint.

Lo and behold the next morning I came down there was a big wellie footprint that my father put on the cardboard, that was more awesome than whatever present I got that year. :pac:

EdenHazard · 26-12-2011 04:58AM

like 6 but miled it till 14 and kinda still go along with the 'santa thing' for the fun

clearz · 26-12-2011 05:05AM

5th class for me. My teacher was telling us some story and said something like 'well since you all know there is no such thing as Santa by now' The funny thing was I was coming up with novel ways to solve maths problems like finding solutions to LCM's and HCF's and other fractional arithmitic but was probably the last kid in that class to know about Santa.

--LOS-- · 26-12-2011 05:30AM

under 10 anyway, cant really remember other than that. Wasnt too hard to figure out when your parents sucked at being santa, re-using old wrappping paper, not buying you presents themselves etc..

woodoo · 26-12-2011 07:17PM

23

St.Spodo · 26-12-2011 07:55PM

I don't finding out was one particular incident. I probably believed in Santa until about 8, had doubts at 9 which grew until I concluded on my own accord that it was spoofery.

Dean820 · 26-12-2011 08:06PM

Believing in Santa was great craic. Anybody who denies their child the magic that comes with him are boring.

44leto · 26-12-2011 08:50PM

Teaching children to have Faith in an invisible but a powerful deity.

But I still believe in christmas. I think I was about 7.

cloud493 · 26-12-2011 08:53PM

Not till I was 11 >.< Absolutely gutted I was.

Jimmy Garlic · 26-12-2011 08:59PM

Santa is a sham, and a fraud, and a.. sham!. Stop brainwashing your children.

born2bwild · 26-12-2011 09:00PM

Quazzie wrote: »

In the primary school I went to, the teacher for 5th class openly talked about their being no Santa, under the assumption that everyone knew at that stage.

What kind of teacher is that? She should have been struck off the Teaching Council register.

What age did you find out about Santa?

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