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When should I crush my sons’s dreams?
- Thread starter Garp TXB
- Start date
I stopped when I was 10-11. When my nieces (9&7) ask, I answer "as long as you believe it". That's a pretty good route to take with it, I feel.
Just as long as they don't end up like someone I knew growing up. He believed until he was 14-15, for yeah. No bullshit, he honestly believed there was a fucking Santa at that age.
Just as long as they don't end up like someone I knew growing up. He believed until he was 14-15, for yeah. No bullshit, he honestly believed there was a fucking Santa at that age.
Start as soon as kids are born so you can prepare them to become angry, bitter and jaded adults like the rest of us.
Let him figure it out for himself.
Exactly imagine looking like a buffoon for saying something stupid.
I never believed in Santa/Tooth Fairy/Magical creatures but I still celebrated all the holidays and enjoyed them.
I think a lot of parents perpetuate these lies for their own benefit rather than their kids'.
I think a lot of parents perpetuate these lies for their own benefit rather than their kids'.
I clearly thought it was BS at the time I was 5-6.
I'm not gonna let someone else take credit for presents I bought.
I'm not gonna let someone else take credit for presents I bought.
I'm from a multicultural place, so I figure out myself why some friends don't get stuff from Santa or they don't even bother. I asked myself the question.
I figured it out when I was 9, just give it time.
The way you tell your kid is you don't deny it when they ask.
The way you tell your kid is you don't deny it when they ask.
Born? Why wait that long? There is 9 months as a fetus you can indoctrinate them with subliminal messages.
/s
As others have said, let them figure it out on their own.
I think I'll start telling my nutsack how life ain't shit and nothing and nobody matters in the end, just to prepare those little swimmers.
They'll figure it out (probably pretty soon given your son's age). likely from kids at school. Just let them own it. If you keep it up (perhaps tone it down a bit, don't push the Santa angle hard but don't kill it), he'll eventually mention 'I know he isn't real' and then you can play ignorant a little bit and eventually everyone is on the same page.
If its his to own and to let *you* down gently I think thats a good way to go, rather than 'fuck no, Santa isn't real lol' to his face :)
If its his to own and to let *you* down gently I think thats a good way to go, rather than 'fuck no, Santa isn't real lol' to his face :)
I dress as Santa and show up every Christmas Eve for my kids. My son is 6 and my daughter is 3. My son this year started saying Santa you look like daddy. So I'm guessing in another year or two he'll put it together. Still what a magical feeling it is showing up and seeing the excitement on my kids faces. Gonna hold onto that for as long as I can.
This is the way. By the time he's old enough to realize this on his own he'll understand and appreciate what you did for him. That's the way it was for me when I figured it out, and realized how much my parents gave me every Christmas. Wasn't mad at my parents at all. Of course this then also made me realize that Christianity was also a fairy tale, which my parents were less appreciative of.
When he comes and asks you if Santa Claus is real because some kids at school told him he's not then you tell him the truth as gently as possible. Or he finds out and doesn't bother asking. Either way there's no point in letting a kid down like that over something so innocuous.
not really, it's pretty unniversal, i believed in him too and i'm in switzerland... but i figured it out on my own when i was like 7 or 8
I think i must have been around 6 when my Mum was taking me into town to shop for my presents so I put two and two together around then, despite my mum telling me that the dumbwaiter lift thing in Argos then your order get sent through comes from the elves in Santas workshop upstairs. It did make Argos seem quite magical though.
The Best thing about children believing in Santa is they will Resent "Him" instead when they dont get what they want. ;)
American here, my family was a "we have to pay Santa" house. It didn't stop my belief in him, that just happened naturally, but it did drive home that my parents were the ones who came through. Santa was just the delivery guy.
Let him be. Even I want to hunt treasures in my backyard now.
No, kids believe in Santa in Brazil too.
No, kids believe in Santa in Brazil too.
I was 8 we me and my classmates only began to figure it out. At 7 we were still conspirators gathering info.
Seems to me 8-9 is the normal age to undercover this first trivial stage of worldwide conspiracy and lies.
Seems to me 8-9 is the normal age to undercover this first trivial stage of worldwide conspiracy and lies.
While you're at it don't forget to also tell him that in the original Sleeping Beauty she isn't woken by a kiss from a prince, but after being raped and impregnated by a king.
Just let him believe his little fun story as long as he can, he'll figure it out by himself at some point. Despite the fact that some here think it's some huge act of betrayal that will ruin the parent/child relationship forever I think it will be fine. Plus I'm pretty sure sitting a child down to reveal this to him will make it seem like a much bigger deal than him just naturally learning or figuring it out by himself.
Lol perfectly put.
Just let him believe his little fun story as long as he can, he'll figure it out by himself at some point. Despite the fact that some here think it's some huge act of betrayal that will ruin the parent/child relationship forever I think it will be fine. Plus I'm pretty sure sitting a child down to reveal this to him will make it seem like a much bigger deal than him just naturally learning or figuring it out by himself.
Lol perfectly put.
Just let him be a kid. Eventually he will discover on his own and he will look back on the good times as a kid, that you enabled.
The whole Santa/Easter Bunny/Tooth Fairy thing stressed me out as a kid, because I stopped believing very young but I kept acting like I believed because it seemed like my family really wanted me to. So I didn't do that with my kid. She grew up knowing the stories, but she knew them as just regular stories, not something I expected her to believe. One year she asked us to do Santa for her, so we did Santa big for her, with a custom letter from Santa and a big sack of presents and everything. She enjoyed it and that was that, no more interest in Santa. I don't think her childhood has been any less joyful for that decision.
But resetera said Santa was religious indoctrination etc etc etc. tell him about Santa being fake nowwwww
I believed in Santa at that age, what's wrong with that?
Mostly because I lived in poverty and couldn't be convinced that my parents could ever afford the hauls Santa brought. Probably 4 parts that and 1 part "well I believe in the Christian God and this isn't any weirder than that."
You think 11 year olds believe in Santa? I feel like that is pretty old, but it's hard to know for sure.
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Personally, I don't really see the point to the whole Santa thing. I'm Jewish though - but we didn't need to fictionalize our gift giving at the holidays in order to make it fun and memorable.
In fact, it made me really appreciate the few gifts I got since I knew how hard my parents had to work to afford them.
I feel like the truth is better than the "magic" of Santa for kids to know - that their parents love them and wanted to give them gifts.
Yea, quite frankly it's absurd how much the media makes you feel like an outsider as a kid during the holiday season if you're Jewish.
I'm torn because on the one hand I don't think I'd ever have the heart to tell my daughter.
On the other.. he's 8? In second grade? Kids are cruel. My worry would be the other kids will make fun of him if he still believes in this stuff by next Christmas.
On the other.. he's 8? In second grade? Kids are cruel. My worry would be the other kids will make fun of him if he still believes in this stuff by next Christmas.
