NCEP: Santa and You

[karinothing]

I can't even remember if I ever believed in Santa

[minionkevin]

A friend’s older sibling ruined Santa for me. She ruined a lot of kid things for me, honestly, bc she was a bitch, and Santa was just the tip of the iceberg.

[pmwife]

Dec 6, 2018 14:31:08 GMT -5 litebright said:

I honestly don't remember how I found out.

I am not traumatized.

This is me!  

[secretlyevil]

I don’t have a lot of early memories. Santa wasn’t a thing at a certain point and then my sister came along (11 years difference) and Santa was HUGE for many years.

[Queen Mamadala]

Nah. I'm loling that this is a thing. Like wut!? No.

[sugarbear]

I believed for a really long time, like maybe until 10 or 11? When I was in first grade, my mom died. In second grade, my dad took my brother and me skiing for Christmas. Santa came to the condo we stayed in, and left a lovely note with beautiful handwriting that definitely was not my father's. I had my doubts about Santa, but that confirmed his real-ness for me. We weren't staying in a hotel and I couldn't put together -- in my 7 year old, grief-stricken head -- how my dad could have had someone else write the note.

Turns out, my second grade teacher wrote it. While she was on vacation. With us.
NO WONDER MY DAD PUT US IN SKI LESSONS ALL DAY!

More traumatizing than realizing that Santa was fake, was learning all of this ^^ when I was 27. I had no idea.

[SportsFanMilly16]

My mom asked me what I would be asking Santa for when we went to visit him that day at the mall. I told her and she told me I should probably ask for something a little cheaper because Santa wasn't made of money. I told her that money didn't matter because Santa makes the toys. That started a long conversation about the reality of Santa. Not traumatized. Side note, my husband believed in Santa till he was like 16. His little brother is the one who spilled the beans. What a sweet dope!

[TR]

I have no recollection of when I found out. Neither does my mom, lol. So clearly it wasn’t that big of a deal.

[brooklyn]

I can’t remember when I realized Santa wasn’t real. I have no traumatic memory of it. As far as my family goes, I still believe in Santa so he still brings me gifts. 😉

[lyssbobiss, Command, B613]

I was suspicious because I remember catching my dad as the tooth fairy when I was 8 or 9 and I thought if the tooth fairy isn’t real, Santa isn’t either, right? But I was really afraid to say it out loud because I still wanted presents. I certainly wasn’t traumatized by it. There are plenty of actual things to need therapy over in life.
Also, I’m 38 and my mom still gives me gifts from Santa, which is adorable and I hope I’m like that when I’m her age too.

[puppylove64]

I think still to this day my mom would answer “yes of course” if I asked if Santa was real. I was never upset when I knew it was her, I got frustrated that she kept saying he is real. I don’t want to ever tell my kids he is “fake.” I will punch dh if he tells his older ds12 that. Of course Santa is real and we won’t discuss any other options

[Deleted]

I was 9 when I realized and bummed for like a day but got over it.

[bex]

I found out very gradually and my mom never actually confirmed it until I was out of the house I think. Maybe late HS. I knew before then lol but she never came out and said "I'm santa."

I have older siblings so there was a long period of time of the older ones putting it together. No one wanted to be the one to ask mom though lol.

[pixy0stix]

I believed until I figured out it was my grandparents, and then I was excited to help with Santa for my sisters.

My middle sister was devastated when she found out, and we had to tell her when she was 12 or so. She has learning and development issues that played into that. I don't think she's still traumatized, though.

[lust2hart]

I don't remember ever believing in Santa Claus. My parents weren't very fun - they didn't do Santa, or the Tooth Fairy, or go Trick or Treating. Womp Womp.

[pitta12]

I don't remember ever believing in Santa, either, but I have an older brother so he most likely told me the truth very early. He delighted in any opportunity to show me that he knew things I didn't, of course.

[isabel]

Dec 6, 2018 14:31:08 GMT -5 litebright said:

I honestly don't remember how I found out.

I am not traumatized.

This. I couldn't even tell you *when* I found out or how. Neither can my mom. I asked her last year after a bunch of people recounted how they found out and when.

[Vespasia]

Dec 6, 2018 14:31:08 GMT -5 litebright said:

I honestly don't remember how I found out.

I am not traumatized.

This.

I pretended I believed a lot longer than I really did though in order to keep getting Santa gifts. 

[bella427]

I think I just gradually figured it out. No trauma. I do remember my aunt saying my mom shouldn't go along with the Santa thing because "if they find out you lied about Santa, they'll think you're lying about Jesus existing too." Um, okay.

[mrsukyankee]

I'm pretty sure I found out from my right wing Christian grandmother that Santa wasn't real but Jesus definitely was and if I believed only in Santa I'd go to hell...that wasn't great but I still wasn't traumatised as far as I can remember.

[One Girl In All The World]

I have no idea when I stopped actually believing. I still like the concept, and if my parents and I had any relationship they would probably still give me gifts "from santa." I vaguely remember a point where mom stopped waiting until my brother and I went to bed Christmas Eve to hustle the lawn bags stuffed with presents out of the closet to put them under the tree, and just started putting them out as she wrapped them. I also remember I was suspicious enough at one point to investigate, and found said lawn bags obviously full of presents in a cabinet thing that really just hit our crawl space in the basement. I was little enough that I had to climb up on a chair.

[msmerymac]

I don't even know how I found out. I guess it just slowly dawned on me. Mostly because the presents that were labeled as mine and then said "from Santa" were in my mom's handwriting. (To get around that issue, my BFF's parents just wrapped presents for each kid in separate paper, no tags.)


ETA: I was sleeping over at my grandparents' house on Easter and I heard someone tiptoe towards my bedroom. I squeezed my eyes closed and heard the easter bunny come in. When he left, my easter basket was there. I was 6 at the time. So I was convinced of the existence of the Easter Bunny. 

The Valentine's Day Aardvark was kind of like santa. My parents always made us hide, but one year I wanted me and my brother to split up and my mom said, "No, you both have to stay together" so that either she or my dad could "hide separately" from the Aardvark. I think that was the point I knew it was my dad. It was probably still a few more years until I learned that other kids didn't have the Valentine's Day Aardvark and my dad had made up the whole thing. Later in life, my mom confessed she was terrified my brother and I would mention the Aardvark to other kids at school.

[kadams767]

I have to be honest, being traumatized by this or really upset about the "lies" parents tell about Santa/Easter Bunny/Tooth Fairy, etc. is one of those things I do not understand in life. At all. I kind of hate it, but I feel very Buck Up, Buttercup towards anyone who is being serious with this.

[starlily]

No issues.

I was 4 and had fallen asleep on the living room sofa after midnight mass. Woke up briefly and saw my parents wrapping gifts in the adjacent dining room. Went back to sleep. Told my parents I saw them the next morning, along with the fact that the tags were in my dad's writing, and they tried to play it off as they were just helping Santa because he was in a rush. I didn't buy it, but it didn't bother me.

[katfco]

I found out about Santa when I was about 2 or 3, so I never really believed. Evidently I was a bit of a grinch about it, too. Refused to even see him at the mall because, “why? It’s not like he’s real.”

[WOT?*]

I have issues for many reasons, none of which are related to Santa afaik. Those women really need to get over it if the worst thing that ever happened to them was "Your parents bought you the presents. They weren't made by little elves at the North Pole. And Rudolph doesn't have a nose that lights up to see through the fog. Happy holidays."

[msmerymac]

Oh, my dad now has a thing with his step-granddaughter - the Santa at this event they attend in the Adirondacks is the "real santa," which makes sense, and the rest are just helper santas.

[Aloe Vera]

I started to piece things together around age 6.
First, my dad's work used to have a Christmas party for kids every year. My dad had to go to his office after the party and I came with him. The guy dressing up as Santa was in the office across the hall and I saw him remove his Santa beard. 30 years later, I can still remember his face when he saw I saw him. He was quite embarrassed.
Also, my brother and I were playing hide and seek and I found our presents in a closet.

[devonpow]

I found out very very young because my older sister shared it with me lol - not traumatized. Neither is my sister (she caught my parents putting the gifts under the tree). I refuse to tell my kids santa isn’t real though. My almost 12 year old I know has figured it out but I will give him a gift from santa every Christmas until I die. I love santa.

[dreamcrisp1]

I have real problems.

My parents still write stuff from Santa lol. I was fine when I found out he wasn’t real.