Did You Ever Believe in Santa Claus?

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I unfortunately did - I hate being lied to like that. When I was 6 or 7, I figured it out that there is no way it could exist.

I wanted to believe it, but I knew something wasn't exactly as told, as I (even as a toddler) knew that no fat man could fit down a chimney, and being Christmas time, there was a strong chance that many fireplaces would still be hot, and I understood about heat & fire vs. people and bags of Christmas presents. In other words, I never "believed in Santa", per se. As I got to be 4 or 5, I also realized that if "Santa" is one man or one being, and with the number of children spread about on the Earth, there would have to be about 1 billion Santas, to visit every house on one night; chimney or doorway.

Charles

I believed it, only stopped to believe once my parents told me he was not real.

Yes, when I was very small. I don't remember the exact age but I do remember that when I figured it out I was furious at adults for the deception. I didn't understand what made it okay. I'm 33 and I still don't really get the reasoning behind it. It still seems like a dirty trick to me.

I believed in Santa Claus until I was 8 years old and I asked my mum if he was real or not. My mum was good at making up stories when I asked things about Santa though.

I never did, as I thought he was a fake version of Sinterklaas, who I did believe in until I was about 7 years old.



There's a bit of competition between the two interpretations of St. Nick over here in the Netherlands, and their battle is not yet over. We celebrate Sinterklaas/Sint Nicolaas on the 5th of December, and kids receive their presents the next morning. We also celebrate Christmas, on the 25th (with Boxing Day on the 26th), but I never received presents with Christmas. Just the singing, and the decorations, and the food.

I don't think I even knew about there being a Santa Claus until kindergarten. While I was still very young my mom joined a church that didn't celebrate Christmas. The only time I was subjected to the idea of Santa was at school when somebody would dress up and sit in the cafeteria offering candy canes to kids. I don't remember thinking anything about the guy except as someone in a costume.

I think I believed in Santa Claus up until I was about 11 or 12. During my childhood, my parents did everything possible to make him "real" to me...they encouraged me to make a Christmas list every December, took me to see him at the malls (and explained away the fact that many different guys in Santa suits were everywhere with the story that they were all Santa's "helpers") read me Santa books, and had me watch all the good old Rankin - Bass Christmas specials with him in them. But, I think that when I got to be a preteen, I started to realize that logically, Santa could not be a real human being, entity, whatever. It's certainly a wonderful story that promotes the spirit of giving and generosity, and when/if I ever have children, I'll definitely encourage the same belief in Santa and do all my parents did to help me believe.

And actually, there is the story of St. Nicholas, the man who would leave gifts in people's shoes, which I think the legend of Santa may be based off of....so in a way, Santa DID actually exist a long, long time ago.

That being said, I think that one of the ABSOLUTE WORST THINGS a parent can do is to come right out and tell their kids "There's no such thing as Santa, you need to grow up, etc" or to allow an older sibling or other adult to do the same. Just let them arrive at the conclusion that Santa is make - believe on their own, like my parents allowed me to do.

I believed in Santa when I was young then I found out my parents were Santa. Besides, if Santa actually went into my house, I would be scared.

I believed in Santa Claus for longer than normal.

Mostly because whenever I started asking my mother if Santa was *really* real, or how he managed to get around the entire world in one night, she started crying and flipping out. She was desperate for me to believe as long as possible.

Also, at that age, I thought that adults didn't lie, and that they especially wouldn't lie about something so absurd.

It was my first lesson in checking my assumptions very carefully.

[Moved from General Autism Discussion to Random Discussion]

I stopped believing at four. I had serious doubts that a person existed that I couldn't see and had to take someone's word for. I saw the toys under my mom's bed that were from "santa". I asked my dad who always told me the truth and asked him at four years old if Santa was real. He asked if I believed in him and I said that I didn't think he was real. My dad then explained that he was a real man in Germany a long time ago who gave gifts to poor kids, and we play Santa because of this man. He said it was to remember the spirit of Saint Nicholas. I was pretty happy with this explanation.