• My parents told me Santa was real but when I was seven or so I figured out there were just too many houses. I wasn’t mad about it but it was weird.

    My friend has a toddler. They told her Santa is a fun game people play, and not to ruin it for other kids. That seemed to work.

  •  bluGill   ( @bluGill@fedia.io ) 
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    1 month ago

    I have to tell my kids that telling their friends santa isn’t real is cruel, and thus a truth that should be told to their friends. we have never cared about christmas.

  • I recall asking if Santa was real and a sibling told me, bluntly, he was dead.

    For some reason this made a lot of sense to me so I figured the holiday was honoring some old traditional of a red coated man who delivered presents. I figured the ‘lie’ about Santa being real was a part of that too.

  • Our oldest once genuinely forgot that he knew that it was us. It was eerie.

    By now they all know what’s going on and it’s not a problem.

    I can’t remember being shocked as a kid. But I always loved our family’s way of placing our presents under the christmas tree in the weeks leading up to christmas eve. Felt much better than some magical angel bringing the presents.

  • I’ve always been big on having real evidence, even as a kid, so I’m not even sure I really believed in Santa to begin with. I know I never believed in God, despite being forced to go to church, take catachism and sunday school, etc. Iirc, I think I just felt vindicated since I was already telling my siblings he wasn’t real.

  • I caught my parents in the act of impersonating the Easter Bunny of all things and then called them liars, so they figured they might as well come clean about Santa and all the other traditional imaginary figures to get it all out in the open at once. Dammit guys, even the fucking Tooth Fairy isn’t real. What kind of monsters would lie about that?

  • I figured it out when I was young. I couldn’t tell you what kicked it off in my little mind, but suddenly the entire concept of Santa didn’t make sense. I do remember being very concerned with how the Elves knew how to make things that were (to my child mind) complex, like a Sega Genesis and the games. I couldn’t have told you how we did it, either, but it made more sense for a company focused on it versus some elves in the middle of nowhere trying to make all that and all the hand crafted wooden toys the Christmas specials all showed.

    I dealt with it pretty well, no meltdowns or anything, just a simple “I don’t believe Santa is real”. Had a couple family members try to keep the story going, but others just accepted the magic was over and explained it to me fully. Still had gifts from “Santa”, but that was explained as someone not wanting their gift, if it was bigger or more expensive, to feel more important than anyone else’s.