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If you celebrated Christmas, how old were you until you believed in Santa or your country's equivalent? (Sinterklaas, for example.) Do you think there's an age where you're too old?

Side question: Did anyone actually believe mall Santas were the real deal? I see complaints this time of year from parents about mall Santas being "outed" for whatever reason, but I dunno, even children's movies like Elf portray mall Santas as "pretend" Santas.

I'm not really sure. I know I believed completely until I was maybe nine, then I think I kinda figured there wasn't one but let myself believe anyway for a few years. I may have been eleven when I stopped altogether, which was probably a bit old, even if I was more playing along than anything else.

I never did believe in Santa, and was surprised to find out that other kids did, other than really young ones. When I was in kindergarten or first grade, I thought some kids really did believe in Santa, but past that, I always thought they were joking or just pretending for fun.

Santa didn't really work in my house because we opened presents on Christmas Eve night, and they all had tags saying who they were from (except for one relative, who always sent them "from Santa") and we don't have a fireplace.

Roughly around the age of 7. I noticed some funny things that didn't quite fit ("We don't have a chimney! How does Santa get in?!"). There wasn't really an "aha!" moment, but I just got less invested in it over the years... and then we learned about the different "Santa"/Holiday celebrations of other countries, as well as the real St. Nicholas.

Re: Santa Claus

dancingmouse - 2016-12-06 00:14 (UTC) - Expand

I don't know when I stopped believing.

I think a lot of small children think they are real. Kids are gullible.

I don't really remember when I stopped believing, but I have a hazy memory of my childhood in general. I know we kept doing our letters even after that though (the german putting your letter in your shoe tradition), even though I was the youngest child. It was just fun tradition, idk.

Also, maybe when I was very little? We didn't go to mall santas very often though.

I'm American, and grew up with the Santa Claus from those stop-motion TV specials. I think I always knew it was fake, and even recognized from a young age how it had evolved from previous concepts.

But I liked pretending. It's a nice fantasy.

My dad did something which was kind of cute, and it probably persisted until I was about... four or five? He always said he was going to "get the Big Guy this year" and used that as his excuse for why he would be up in the living room all night while he was setting out presents.

I think I bought that story until I figured out that it was my parents doing it all along. I asked my mom about it when my little brother (who was probably only three or so) wasn't around and she admitted it was them. I kept up the charade with them until he figured it out on his own though. I think he lasted until he was about six? I just didn't want to ruin the fun since he'd get really distressed over the thought of our Dad capturing Santa and I thought that was hilarious.

Re: Santa Claus

(Anonymous) - 2016-12-06 00:12 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Santa Claus

herpymcderp - 2016-12-06 00:17 (UTC) - Expand

I always thought that the whole concept of Santa was a little weird (How can one guy visit thousands of homes in one night? How do we NOT hear him walking around the house? Why has no one ever seen him flying?) but I still believed, until I walked in on my Grandma and Mom wrapping "Santa's" presents when I was like 9 or 10.

Reports vary for me, apparently. I had a friend or two I knew when I was about 4 tell me I figured it out then and (in my shock) told them. One was horrified, the other had never believed anyway. One story my mother told seemed to confirm this as I 'put in my order' with her for my gifts around that time as well. But then my parents also claim that the last time I sort of believed was the one when I was 6.

As for being too old to believe...I'd like to say no, but...Considering that when kids get older, people get less careful about this stuff, I often wonder how unobservant these older kids who still believe have to be. I've also heard that at a certain point older kids will get really nervous about the whole thing. I think my parents had to actually just tell my brother because he'd started thinking and well, if one person can get in, who's to say other people can't? And it freaked him out so much the only way to calm him down was to tell him the truth.