He's NOT??????????

Who the heck was that jolly old elf that asked me to be especially good last week?

I think I was around seven or eight. I was in a store with my mother around Easter and noticed all of the baskets for sale and started pressing her to explain to me why all these baskets were for sale when the Easter Bunny was supposed to bring them. She ended up admitting to me that the Easter Bunny wasn't real and I figured out from there that Santa wasn't real either. I remember being a little pissed at her and my father for lying to me. I got over it quickly. (And a few weeks later I got the biggest Easter basket I've ever seen. My poor parents must have felt guilty.)

I don't really know when I really stopped but by kindergarten I didn't really believe but didn't want to not believe. 11 seems a bit late but why does that worry you? Also don't discount the possibility she is humoring you and the other adults around her.

really really really? WTF I'm channeling a tween girl.

Six.

I don't remember when I stopped believing, but I didn't learn until much later exactly how the presents got under the tree. We would go to a midnight Xmas service, and when we got home all the presents would be laid out. It wasn't until college that my mother told me that my father would leave church, drive home, put the presents out, and come back, apparently without me noticing.

I don't recall ever really believing in him. Adults say a lot of stuff, y'know?

I hadnt even heard of santa till i was ten or eleven.

I figured it out while reading Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.

That Judy Blume is such a c*nt.

Some people believe the weirdest things well into their adulthood.

I never thought he was real, but it always was great to try and sleep anyway to see what the Christmas Magic was that brought all the cool stuff in our stockings the next day. Sadly, one night I wasn't asleep before I heard my mom and sister come out and put all the stuff inside. To this day, at the ripe old age of 37, I try to fall asleep really quickly anyway, because it's still fun to believe that once a year, candy and presents can magically appear overnight if you wish for them badly enough.

They can, lipstick. I promise.

I don't remember how old I was, but it was when my mom told me that we still had to pretend for my younger sister.

My son was about 13. No big deal. He's 15 now.

Heck, I was the same way.

OTOH, she might be going by the theory that She Who Does Not Believe Shall No Longer Get Presents.

I do not remember when I stopped believing. But I DO remember trying to act like I believed after I didn't, because I thought I might get more presents if mom and dad bought extras to label as from Santa.

I don't remember either. What I do remember is that life was much simpler and sweeter and happier back when there was a Santa.

Let her have it. She'll learn about reality soon enough.

I was 6, my parents told me before I went to school so I wouldn't get picked on like my father had. Turns out I had kind of figured it out already. 11 seems old to me.

Funny, I was just having a conversation with my nephew about this. All three of my bro's kids are a bit delayed. He was explaining to me that he doesn't believe in the Easter Bunny or Santa anymore (he's 17) and his sister doesn't believe in Santa anymore either (she's 15). He said "I think most kids stop believing by the time they're 17 ..." which is one of those things that these kids say you just have to secretly laugh at while keeping a straight face.

Myself, well, I was reading before kindergarten, and I'm pretty sure I had it all figured out by 2nd grade.
Note: being really smart at an early age is no guarantee of a happy life.

I think I was 8 when I was told. Having said that I think I must've been rather sceptical about the whole operation because I remember doing all this detective work, comparing handwriting and sticking little bits of thread to all the doors and windows. I guess I was a pretty weird kid. I don't recall being surprised about the revelation either.

11 seems old but then, like arse_hat, I tend to think she could be just playing along. Kids are so manipulative and will say all sorts of shit if they think it'll get them what they want.

Actually I question how any kid can seriously, 100%, believe Santa exists. When I was a kid I remember lots of my friends and I having heated debates about the existence of Santa - and that was pretty much from year one. Then you have the fact that everything about Santa Claus is so totally at odds with even a childs understanding of the world. So I guess either a kid really has to want to believe or they have to be a few baubles short of a christmas tree.

I don't remember how old I was when I realized... Pretty young. Way before 11. I mean the whole notion of getting toys in retailer packaging was a huge clue-by-four.

I was pretty sure Santa wasn't traipsing around WalMart with his Visa card. Anyway, it wasn't a big revelation or anything, and I didn't feel the need to talk about it... Plus I had a younger sister, so I wanted to help keep the dream alive.

I don't think I ever really believed in Santa/Tooth Fairy/Easter Bunny etc. I did like the surprises though, and was too busy with the gifts to question their origin. Mainly, I could never understand why we would struggle to figure out what to give others if Santa was supposed to bring everything.

Raised as a Unitarian, it was never an issue. All the fake Santas in the stores were a pretty strong indication the whole gig was a con.

The first fight I remember getting into was with a Catholic friend over Jesus being the son of God. I wasn't buying it. Then the stupid Papist attacked me.

I do remember getting really pissed off at my old man when he tried to convince me the tooth fairy was real. He cited the appearance of the quarter under my pillow as evidence. I didn't buy that one either, since it just seemed like another variation on the theodicy con.

He was alway a practical joker. One April Fool's Day, he sent me to the hardware store for a left handed monkey wrench. Since I had never seen a monkey wrench, I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt (crescent wrenches were the standard adjustable wrench in my limited 7-year old experience.) I was suspicious, though, because he only gave me a dollar and all the other wrenches were more than that. The clerks at the store played it straight and just said they didn't stock them. So I went back home and gave the dollar back to my dad and told him he was out of luck.

Here's proof:

≡ Click to see image ≡

Funny, I can remember about how old I was (six or seven) because I remember being in first grade and feeling contemptuous of a classmate who still believed (I was such a shitty kid), but I can't remember whether I was told or if I just found out.

I can't remember exactly how old I was, but I must have been younger than 9 because my mother was still alive. I remember being heartbroken when I realized that Santa wasn't real, because I knew my family was sort of poor and that meant I'd never get all those wonderful things I wanted from the Sears catalog. I was a very sensitive kid (kids like the kid PST was would pick on me all the time).

I don't think I ever really believed either. I'm sure no one in my family ever made much of an effort to convince me Santa was real. A few relatives would occasionally take me on the obligatory "sit on Santa's lap at [xyz venue]," and I just played along while thinking, "I can SEE the elastic in your beard, WTF?"

Never believed in Santa. I don't know why; can't remember at what age I became aware of Santa - perhaps at that age it was obviously Not True. Parent's didn't pretend presents were from Santa, so...

The Tooth Fairy though...

You'll notice the generous use of eplises: too tired...

I was five; and I remember a lady at work was all "boo hoo, X doesn't belive in Santa anymore" and he was ELEVEN and I thought it was wierd. . .um. . .kids today. . .(?)

Oh, plus? My family was church going, intact, and did the whole illusion thing with the stuff magically appearing Christmas Day. I don't think I was presentient, I think kids are just different in the other direction now, but isn't that weird???