When do you break the news to your kids? (Spoiler alert)

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Replies

  • SKP1986
    SKP1986 Posts: 392 Member
    My parents never told me, but I got to a certain point where I tried to con Santa into proving his existence. Fortunately for little 6 or 7 year old me my dad was creative. I asked Santa in a note with his cookies to draw me a picture of my favorite reindeer and the next day when I woke up there was a picture of Donder/Donner on a scrap of wrapping paper. I ended up figuring things out on my own, but I get to look back at memories like this fondly, so I see no reason to "dream crush." Let kids use their imaginations for a while. Sometimes I think we are too focused on grounding people in reality =/.
  • Chrystibel
    Chrystibel Posts: 116 Member
    My kids figured it out a while ago. However, they haven't broken the news to me that they know. My oldest told her dad she knew what was up, but not to tell me. She told her dad she didn't want to break my heart.

    So I make an even BIGGER deal about Santa and the Easter Bunny.

    It's cute that our rolls somehow got reversed. The kids get all dramatic about it, too.

    "MOM! Did YOU see the easter bunny??? I TOTALLY saw him out back!"

    aww :heart: I wish I could meet my little cousins, they sound like awesome kids.
  • Kayraysmommy2209
    Kayraysmommy2209 Posts: 49
    when I don't know, but my 8 yr old step daughter already suspects there is no santa because she saw the Wii (santa present) before christmas and started asking a bunch of questions. I tried to play along that santa dropped it off early so we could look at it and decide what games to get her but then her mom sent her a present (2 weeks after christmas) and put Santa on it then told her it was from her. So there were more questions about it. I don't know what she thinks now. I guess I will just have to see when it comes back around. Good luck you'll figure it out or they will probably have a cousin or friend tell them. My cousin told me when I was 6 that it was all made up.
  • DPernet
    DPernet Posts: 481 Member
    I still believe in Santa, the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny. Fairies and all the rest :huh:
  • PapaverSomniferum
    PapaverSomniferum Posts: 2,670 Member
    My kids figured it out a while ago. However, they haven't broken the news to me that they know. My oldest told her dad she knew what was up, but not to tell me. She told her dad she didn't want to break my heart.

    So I make an even BIGGER deal about Santa and the Easter Bunny.

    It's cute that our rolls somehow got reversed. The kids get all dramatic about it, too.

    "MOM! Did YOU see the easter bunny??? I TOTALLY saw him out back!"

    aww :heart: I wish I could meet my little cousins, they sound like awesome kids.

    one of these days we're going to save up for a road trip to Florida. COUSIN MEET!!! Fiona has some cousins on her dad's side down there too she hasn't met.

    There's a lot of awesomeness in our gene pool :flowerforyou:
  • hollyberry2012
    hollyberry2012 Posts: 239 Member
    When my son asked me if Santa was real....I said, HECK YEH! As real as Mickey Mouse honey!! Now go play :)

    He got it..He's smart like that. hehehe
  • engineman312
    engineman312 Posts: 3,450 Member
    LALALALALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU LALALALALALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU LALALALALALALALALALALA
  • PapaverSomniferum
    PapaverSomniferum Posts: 2,670 Member
    I still believe in Santa, the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny. Fairies and all the rest :huh:

    Yep. I believe in Fairies!
  • Micheetah
    Micheetah Posts: 184 Member
    Im a horrible liar so its hard for me to go along with the whole easter bunny tooth fairy santa thing. If my son believes I let him and when he asks me I try really hard to evade like hell, but children are curious creatures so they fig it out. lol. He's 7, i think by now he's fig'd out that mom and dad are those make believe characters.. and I love history and like teaching him actual history instead of made up stories.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    You don't. They usually figure it out on their own.
  • SpydrMnky27
    SpydrMnky27 Posts: 381 Member
    I'll let my kids figure it out on their own but I do teach them to question everything and not to believe things just because everyone else does.
  • Yellerie
    Yellerie Posts: 221 Member
    I never did. My kids, who are now 16 and 19, know that Santa Claus lives in all of us and it is the spirit of giving that makes Christmas special...not what you receive. So, we do not speak such words in our house. My parents never did either and now that I am an adult, I appreciate their silence on the matter. Trust me. Kids will tell them. Because obviously it was in their parents best interest to take the magic out of the holiday.

    EXACTLY!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • SarahMorganP
    SarahMorganP Posts: 921 Member
    I am a big horrible liar! My son believed until he was 12. He wasn't just pretending, he really honestly believed. Why? Because he said "There is no way Mom and Dad could afford all that stuff!". :) My youngest is almost 9 and she still believes. I don't think I will be as lucky with her believing for so long though. I think this might be the last year because she is just a completely different kid than my son was. She questions EVERY SINGLE THING ON EARTH.

    We make the biggest deal out of Santa, the Easter bunny and the Tooth Fairy. I am so excited to hide all of the easter eggs tonight after the kids go to bed. And then I will write a long letter to the kids that detail how many eggs are in each room and how many are in the yard and so on. Of course this is all from the Easter Bunny! I even buy a kit to make "bunny prints" and stamp them all over the carpet and furniture! It is so adorable!

    I will cry when my youngest stops believing. Santa and the Easter Bunny were such a huge part of my childhood. HUGE. And they are for my kids too. I don't see a thing wrong with that.

    And unlike a lot of others I flat out lie to them when they ask. Of course they are real! How else would you get all of this stuff?! :happy:
  • Trutra
    Trutra Posts: 131 Member
    When my daughter used to ask I would just say: "What do you think?" This worked for a while until age 11 she said:
    "Tell me the truth mom, is Santa Claus real?" I of course admitted that he was not. At that stage she burst into tears and admitted that she had wanted me to say he was real, lol.
    A few months later she said: "Oh, and I suppose that the Easter bunny/tooth fairy aren't real either?"

    When she was about 6 she once told a child who had told her Santa wasnt real: "He has to be, cos my mom cant afford all those presents!"
  • danibabs
    danibabs Posts: 298 Member
    My parents told me when I was about 10 or 11 I think. I told them yea, I already knew that. My cousin and I put it together when we were about 9.
  • lour441
    lour441 Posts: 543 Member
    I have 4 daughters ages 2, 7, 8, and 10. When my oldest turned 10 I had "The Talk" with her about Santa, The Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, etc. She had her ideas but it was a good chat and everything was fine.

    A couple months later she lost a tooth. I took her aside and jokingly asked her if I still had to give her a dollar for her tooth. She told me it would be best to keep paying in order to not spoil it for the little ones and that $5 was a better amount.
  • robot_potato
    robot_potato Posts: 1,535 Member
    You don't. They will figure it out eventually. Let them have the magic for as long as they can.
  • Autumn23242
    Autumn23242 Posts: 28 Member
    Well, my daughter came home from school when she was 10 and told me she got in an argument with a girl who told her Santa was not real. She was adament he was and she stands by her convictions. So for the sake of ffriendship.....I had to tell her the fatcs...... of course she told her 7 year old brother.

    kind of like having to tell my daughter that broccoli is not a tree that that grows on your plate. best trick to get her to eat it.... when she was three I told her to eat it quick and it wont keep growing on your plate and getting bigger and bigger. Other kids looked at her kind funny when she explained why she had to eat her broccoli quickly. that one lasted untl she was about 6. Got much harder to get her to eat her veggies after that! lol :)
  • jennifer52484
    jennifer52484 Posts: 888 Member
    I don't. They usually figure it out on their own. My 11 year old hasn't told me yet that she knows better, so we just keep pretending. Its fun :)

    I don't have any children yet but I will be doing this when and if the time comes!!
  • yaddayaddayadda
    yaddayaddayadda Posts: 430 Member
    Well... My parents never told me. I found out on the streets. I will not publish the name of the wicked child who spilled the beans when I was in 4th grade, but I remember her name still even though I haven't seen her in 40 years!

    When I confronted my mother about it, she did admit the horrible truth. Within a few minutes, I figured out that they had been lying to me about EVERYTHING...

    Even at that young age, I was angry at myself for falling for it! LOL... Innocence lost:sad:

    For all of you who are parents of believers... Enjoy the fun before your children figure it out! Their innocence and wonder are precious:-)

    Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate!
    K
  • HorrorChix89
    HorrorChix89 Posts: 1,229 Member
    My mother always told me "When you stop believing, you stop receiving". Me and my brother found out about Santa when we noticed our bikes had dirt on the tires. Either way my 14 year old sister still believes only cause she knows if she questions it she'll get nothing from "Santa"
  • momof8munchkins
    momof8munchkins Posts: 1,167 Member
    Easy.
    Tell them the truth from day one... My kids have never ever believed in santa, the easter bunny, tooth fairy.. and they are happy kids
  • StephanieDJL
    StephanieDJL Posts: 130 Member
    Why tell them? Children will eventually find out for themselves, the magic is in the imagination. I have three siblings, (14, 12 & 6) aside from the youngest we all figured it out at various ages but kept it a secret so as not to spoil the fun. I've known there's no Santa for over a decade yet after helping my mum with everyone else's presents, I still go to bed before mine are put out!

    In this situation, what is anyone gaining from the truth?
  • cheeksv
    cheeksv Posts: 521 Member
    I don't see the point in lying to them. Why make them idolize fake people ( or bunnies) when they should look up to real people who do good things, not just give them stuff for nothing. I feel like more and more kids are focusing on the getting stuff and not being taught what these holidays are actually about.
  • nomoreplaying
    nomoreplaying Posts: 36
    My brother and I were young enough to still get gifts from santa, but each year we would go on a "hunt" for our toys and play with them, close them up again, till the next day. mom never used wrapping paper. we'd act surprised on Xmas day, and we never told mom. I never told my daughter those things existed, and she knew all along I was giving her gifts at those times, but I told her for certain at 6 or 7 that santa didnt exist in that way. i think she told her children at around 5 or 6. they said they didnt think it was real anyway.
  • jazzalea
    jazzalea Posts: 412 Member
    When they ask you a direct question give them an honest answer..... and explain that the "story" of Santa, tooth fairy are just that... a story ..... I explained where the story of Santa came from...... that he was real..... and that when he died the legend had grown from that.......... that way we kept it part of the holiday and my kids still got to "keep" santa

    my kids started asking questions shortly after they started school......I just didn't want to have to lose their respect or explain to them why I had lied earlier when they finally figured out that he wasn't real......
  • teripendleton
    teripendleton Posts: 26
    I agree, let them figure it out on their own. Children are growing up way too fast these days, let their little worlds be magical as long as you can. I have a daycare so I made my children still talk about Santa long after they "knew" so as to not spoil it for a younger child. I still put from Santa on some of the gifts under the tree and make them a stocking. That's for me because I think it's fun.
  • chatipati1
    chatipati1 Posts: 211 Member
    I remember when we told our 2nd kid tht there was no Santa etc...she was super ticked that we made fool out of her lol
  • Baurus
    Baurus Posts: 27
    I got it on my own :D
  • veganbaum
    veganbaum Posts: 1,865 Member
    A way around the handwriting thing? Our gifts from Santa were stockings that were stuffed (some stuff wrapped, some not) and one big present that was unwrapped sitting next to our stockings (a big toy, like I remember a Cabbage Patch Kid, a bike, an Attari), no cards on any of them. Everything else was from family. It was great fun to wake up and run out to see what would be sitting next to our stocking from Santa, it didn't take anything away from the fun just because it wasn't wrapped.

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