My sister is 10 and in sixth grade. My mom seems to think that she she still believes in Santa. I know my sister and she's a smart cookie, so I just don't buy it.

I stopped believing in Santa when I was about 8.

My sons never believed in Santa, Easter bunny, Toothfairy, etc. I've gotten flack for it in the past but it never seemed to affect my sons. They are good about not blowing it for other kids though.

Oops, forgot the option for "we don't do Santa" in the second question.

i stopped believe very young, maybe 4 or less? i stopped when i asked my mom if there was a santa or not and she told me the truth. she didn't believe in lying to me so she told me the truth once i asked. i also told a neighbor there was no santa. her mom came over and yelled at my mom because of me. d'oh!

my brother told me when i was 4...chopf##k

I remember when I was 8, that was the last year my friend and I told each either we still believed in Santa. My son (now 12) still was talking about Santa as if he believed at 11, but I think he was putting me on. He wanted me to put out the cookies and milk. I think he really believed until 9 or 10.

When I was 7 or something, my mom gave me a BS answer when I asked if Santa was real. She said "There's a little bit of Santa in all of us" or something. She always felt guilty about that, so when it came time to tell my younger brother, she was brutally honest with him. He burst into tears! Oops, now she's much more remorseful about that.

I still believe in Santa. Now whether he exists or not is a different question.

There's no Santa!??!?!

Actually, my kids were fairly young (under 8) because we're pretty involved with St. Vincent de Paul and collecting toys and food for our parish so they figured out that Santa had a lot of help

I worked it out when I was about 6. Santa left us a note thanking us for the milk and cake in my mother's handwriting. I remember feeling sick to my stomach and when I confronted my mother I remember feeling angry that she thought I wouldn't recognize her writing and that she'd spoiled everything. I'd quite happily have believed in him for another year or two but instead I realised that I'd been lied to. I felt as though the ground had given way under my feet. First stage in loss of innocence.

Still feel a bit upset when I think about it!

I'll never forget that day in my life. It was 3rd grade. A few weeks before this day, I had sent a rather long letter to Santa letting him know exactly what I wanted for Christmas. I put it in an envelope, sealed it, addressed to Santa in the North Pole, put a stamp on it, and dropped it off in a mail box. A few weeks later, I was watching Winnie the Pooh on TV and the mailman dropped off our mail. My mom walks over to me and tells me that I have mail. Me? Mail? I was so excited, I could hardly wait to open it. I ripped open the envelope and to my surprise it was a letter from Santa himself! He told me that he got my letter and wrote down all my Christmas wishes. The next day, I took it to school proudly to show my friends. They all had the same exact letter, I was crushed.

Well I heard he can't say HO HO HO anymore.

My mom didn't let us believe in him because one day we'd find out the truth and she didn't want us to believe in Jesus the same way. (She is a very strong believer in Jesus and didn't want us to think that he was made up like Santa).

When my sister was really young her pre-school teacher called my mom to complain that my sister had told the whole class that Santa doesn't exist. The kids were crying and such. My mom said oh well, that she didn't tell my sister that - she figured it out on her own.

I would boycott any Santa that did not say "Ho, ho, ho!" That PC crap can go somewhere dark and stinky. Modern slang does not change centuries of tradition.

I was around 8, so was my son. He actually out witted the tooth fairy at the age of 5 though. One night he put a tooth under his pillow and didn't tell me. So the next morning he proudly came in to tell me that I was the tooth fairy and that she doesn't exist because she would have known the the tooth was under there if she was real.

I couldn't lie to him and I actually he thought he was quite clever for doing that. He set me up the little buggar!

Job's been asking me if Santa really comes down the chimney...it's really cute because he's still got a great imagination and he still has a magical view of the world. He watched the classic, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, and Rudolph over the weekend which answered many of his questions satisfactorily so I'm off the hook for now.

She's probably playing along because she hasn't figured out how to break it to your mother.

We didn't do Santa in my house...which I am glad about. Though my parents did tell us not to go around telling kids he wasn't real, but to let their parents tell them.

What I found annoying as a kid was every adult assuming you believed in Santa. At the grocery store, the cashier would say "were you good so Santa will bring you presents?" Sometimes me and my sister just said, "yep" so we wouldn't have to go through the whole " *gasp* You don't believe in Santa?" thing. A very close friend of mine tells her story about when she found out there was no Santa, she truly believed, and she found out on Christmas Eve at age 6. She was furious at her parents and wouldn't talk to them for a couple hours. LOL I think she definitely isn't going to do the Santa thing with her kids either, b/c she was completely ticked off and depressed when she found out he wasn't real. I don't want to do that to my kids, and plus I want the credit for buying them things, not someone who doesn't exist. There's also the poor kids who don't get presents even though they were good all year, my mom went through that, so either Santa is bias against poor kids or he's not real.

Young children don't see the world the way adults do...everything is magical, non practical, glittery, new, exciting. I think it's important not to squelch that as they eventually outgrow it on their own. Santa is a symbol, a metaphor, a hero, of giving, random kindness, selflessness. He demonstrates all those qualities in a way that young children can understand.

I think that can be captured without telling a child that Santa is actually real, and is the one who delivers the gifts across the world. As a kid I loved watching the old Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman, and thought they were magical, but I didn't believe they were actually real. I loved imagining things, so I don't think not believing in Santa stunted any of that.
I do have some issues with Santa though, partly because of how poor kids don't get presents even if they were good all year, if they believe in him, and I find that really sad. Like I said my mom went through that, her mom was crazy telling her to be good so Santa brings her presents. My mom was really good and every Christmas got no presents because she was poor and her mom was mentally crazy(literally). So my mom seriously thought that Santa hated her. She was relieved when she found out he wasn't real, because it meant he didn't exist so he couldn't hate her and that she really was a good girl. So it's not a wonderful thing for all kids to believe in, only kids who get presents. So she didn't want me and my sister to believe in him after what she went through. So I just have a different view on it all. I don't think it's worth the lie in the end.

So, what was so smart about not getting some money? haha
You can be too smart for your own good!!

This is a good question because next christmas, I am hoping I will have an eight year old daughter to re-experience christmas with. I am curious what she "believes" and what she wants to believe.

I think the best way to handle the "is there a santa" question is to ask the child what they think and why they think that.
I don't think you should carry it on too long but there is an adult way of viewing santa. At some point, don't we all become santa to somebody??? I love the cookies and milk that come with the job. And I have even been a store santa one year. That will really open your eyes as to how a child sees the world! My dad was a santa too!! So, I guess I am a second generation santa!! I think my son would be a good santa also. Ha ha, errr HO HO!!!

I still believe in Santa even at this age that I have kids and I am the one doing the Santa Hard to let the kids know that the real Santa is really the parents..it kinda breaks my heart.

I told my kids that as soon as they stop believing in Santa he stops coming to bring presents
So they still believe. Its so cute.
We will be seeing Santa this weekend for pics.....

When i was in first grade it was "fun" for the big kids to tell us little kids.. hey there's no such thing as Santa.. it would usually make the 1st grader bawl all the way home on the bus..

That was how I found out.. cried like the little girl i was..

I can't remember ever believing in Santa Claus...

i was younger than 8. don't remember exactly when.

I found out when I was 7 and promptly told my 4 year old neighbor who ran home crying. I was then frogmarched over there and had to tell him I was lying about it. I still have a problem with lying to this day. It just doesn't sit right with me.

My first child was quite old when he found out.... I think it was Grade 5 (I'm Canadian, so it's not "5th Grade").

He found out because the kids in Grade 5 answered the Kindergarten kids' Santa letters and he came home absolutely crushed.

My 2 younger kids found out much younger, probably thanks to their older brother!!!!

my 10 yr old still believes but is starting to ask tricky questions like how does he get from house to house in one night. I said with Santa anything is possible.

I don't remember every believing in Santa. My parents told me Santa was basically the concept of kindness and generosity, not a flesh-and-blood human, and I musta bought it. I was a nerd in a family of nerds. Ho ho ho.

I don't think I ever had a chance to really believe in Santa. My sister is 5 years older than me and ruined it for me.

I currently have no offspring, though I might someday. I would never ever teach them that Santa Claus is real for two reasons.

One is that when you have to eventually tell them that you've been lying to them for years, it destroys their faith in you as a parent. You should never lie to a child because you then teach that child that lying is okay. Even though Santa is a primarily Christian myth, by telling your child that he is real you're breaking a primary Christian commandment and teaching your children it's okay to do the same.

Two is that kids don't learn the true worth of their toys when some anonymous stranger whom they'll never meet brings them for "free." This encourages attitudes like "Oh, Santa brought it, it doesn't matter if I destroy it, I'll just get another one next year." This is no attitude to be teaching children. This also makes for awkward discussions when they see things like Toys for Tots and wonder why people have to donate toys if Santa brings them.

Teaching children that Santa is real is not right in any sense of the word. Just because it's societally acceptable doesn't justify the harm it can do.

Sorry to be a downer, but this has long been one of my pet peeves.

I'm in agreement with Steven. My son was about 8 or 9 when he told me that some friends had told him that there was no such thing as Santa Claus. He looked so sad when he asked me if it was true. Since I believe that children are forced to grow up far too quickly and have so few years in which to be delighted by life, I told him that of course there is a Santa Claus. He lit up like a Christmas tree and said "I KNEW it!" Then off he went as happy as a clam, believing in the magic of Christmas for one last time.

I recall being at my friend's house one Christmas. His daughter came up to him and pretty much said the same thing as my son had. My friend was of the opinion that he should not "lie" and said "You're right honey. There's no such thing as Santa Claus. He's kind of like the Easter Bunny. Neither of them exist." His daughter just stood there with a devastated look on her face, then burst out crying "I still believed in the Easter Bunny!!!!" and ran off. We just sat there looking at each other like this before busting out laughing. Too funny.

I don't remember how old I was when I figured it out but I was younger than 8. It's so cute though my cousin is 9 and she asked Santa for world peace. I had to hold back my laughter though because she was so into telling me this story about the letter she wrote him. On the other hand, my stepbrother who is 9 told me that he isn't so sure about the whole Santa thing but the kids that believe in him get more presents so he's going to keep believing.

I asked my other cousin who is 10 on Thursday night what she wanted for Christmas and she said "Amber I know that Santa isn't real don't even give me the whole Santa BS" lol I couldn't stop laughing

I believed in Satan when I was a kid, and I still do.

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One of the reasons why Superhero movies and tv shows are popular is because people's imaginations want to be let out of their cages of reality. There is a suspension of disbelief even for adults when we see Spiderman swinging along the cityscape as it captures our imagination. I remember hearing someone very wise once say, we should always strive to be childlike but not childish...to tap into the childlike qualities of wonderment, imagination, magic. I find it very inspiring to watch my 6 year old son express those qualities as it reminds me of how I once viewed the world that way. I hope I never fully lose touch of that.

This last weekend he wrote a letter to Santa and placed it in the mailbox.

I don't remember ever believing in Santa..

There's a saying in my family "He who does not believe, does not receive." So if I want any "Santa" presents from my parents, then I BELIEVE

I was 9--I read an article in one of those women's magazines that always has stories about Christmas miracles about "How to Tell Your Kids the Truth About Santa."

My sister was 7. I don't have kids, but my best friend's kid is 5 and he believes Santa exists but wants nothing to do with him ("Why would some guy I don't know want to give me presents? And he's got so many kids to get gifts for, he'd probably just get it wrong, so maybe you'd better buy my presents instead, Mom").

Did anyone see the commercial that was on, from JCPenney's or some other Dept Store, with a little boy named Kelly opening his gifts from Santa, and it was all little girl items and the little boy was so annoyed looking. The little boy writes "Dear Santa, Kelly is a boy's name too!"

kids stop believing whenever someone older than them tels them not to believe in Santa.
me i once believed in Santa until the night i saw my dad putting a barbie doll on my socks hung in the window.