OK, I screwed up, again.. Ruined xmas..

[ImcLoud]

See now that's the key to the "kill off Santa speech", you have to tell them their parents are the ones really getting the presents for them. Also that their parents are the ones to blame if they don't get what they want!

Steve

P.S. I believe my son was 4 or 5 when he first asked, so I told him the truth.

Thats a good age..

 

[Matt34]

My wife told my three year old she has to behave because Santa's elves keep a list of naughty kids. She responded that she will throw the list away and stomp the little elves.

 

[GO-NAD!]

I wasn't taking anything out on Adam, lol.... You can take about 7 percent of what I type serious... maybe..

I know you were joking.

Seriously, how is this possible? Doesn't your daughter read newspapers, the internet, whatever? Even watch adult television?

I don't think I know any kid her age who reads newspapers - except for the comic section. In fact, we don't get the papers, as we get all our news on-line. She doesn't watch any adult TV shows, or TV news, as she's very sensitive and murder, war and other strife would give her nightmares. So, she kinda lives in a bubble. She knows that there is nasty stuff out there and at this stage of life, I see no reason to force it on her. If any of the kids at school has told her the truth, she hasn't let on. And, her friends all seem to be in "Santa believers club". If she hasn't figured it out by next year, we'll probably tell her.

 

[KEW]

My wife told my three year old she has to behave because Santa's elves keep a list of naughty kids. She responded that she will throw the list away and stomp the little elves.

Make sure you keep your guns locked up!
Sounds like one bad-a$s little girl!

 

[panteragstk]

Geeze, don't you guys know anything about quantum mechanics? Santa could exist in any number of alternate universes. I mean, someone has even gotten his DNA to prove he can do what "kids" seem to know he can do.

Null Hypothesis | Spoof

 

[lsiberian]

I was told if Santa doesn't exist I won't get presents from him. Needless to say I still believe. Trying to drown a kid is definitely worse than breaking the news about Santa. Of course I did it in the mall when I was kid. I broke the news in the line going to Santa to the other kids. I nearly got my mom killed.

 

[Irvrobinson]

I don't think I know any kid her age who reads newspapers - except for the comic section. In fact, we don't get the papers, as we get all our news on-line. She doesn't watch any adult TV shows, or TV news, as she's very sensitive and murder, war and other strife would give her nightmares. So, she kinda lives in a bubble. She knows that there is nasty stuff out there and at this stage of life, I see no reason to force it on her. If any of the kids at school has told her the truth, she hasn't let on. And, her friends all seem to be in "Santa believers club". If she hasn't figured it out by next year, we'll probably tell her.

That's amazing. I was reading the newspaper at seven or so, my parents got the morning and evening papers, and I wasn't an especially good student either. By the time I was ten or eleven I was reading adult novels from the library, though I was eleven in 1967, so novels were a lot different back then. Not so much mind candy. I distinctly remember reading my first Fletcher Knebel novel in the fifth grade, because I remember asking my teacher about some aspect of it.

Of course, I see you're from Nova Scotia, a place I have no familiarity with, and perhaps retaining one's innocence longer there is more normal than in a major US city, where I grew up. I was also assuming that this generation of pre-teens is more worldly than I was in the 1960s; they seem that way to me. It's also possible that I erred the other way with my own children, trying to grow them up too fast.

 

[Irvrobinson]

I wasn't taking anything out on Adam, lol.... You can take about 7 percent of what I type serious... maybe..

That high? Alright, I'd reconsider.

 

[GO-NAD!]

That's amazing. I was reading the newspaper at seven or so, my parents got the morning and evening papers, and I wasn't an especially good student either. By the time I was ten or eleven I was reading adult novels from the library, though I was eleven in 1967, so novels were a lot different back then. Not so much mind candy. I distinctly remember reading my first Fletcher Knebel novel in the fifth grade, because I remember asking my teacher about some aspect of it.

Of course, I see you're from Nova Scotia, a place I have no familiarity with, and perhaps retaining one's innocence longer there is more normal than in a major US city, where I grew up. I was also assuming that this generation of pre-teens is more worldly than I was in the 1960s; they seem that way to me. It's also possible that I erred the other way with my own children, trying to grow them up too fast.

You're just special, that's all.

I was three in 1967, so I'm not that far behind you. I read voraciously as a kid, including my dad's subscription newsmagazines (we lived too far out in the boonies to get newspapers). And, I watched the news, including reports from the Viet Nam War. Unpleasant news didn't really bother me. I guess it was just too foreign or abstract for it to hit home and bother me, at that age. I can't remember when I found out there was no Santa Claus, but I think it was more of a drawn out process than a sudden bombshell. More like an inkling, turning to suspicion, to firm realization.

My daughter certainly isn't "slow". She actually reads voraciously - it's just "age-appropriate" books that she reads. She's gradually getting into more advanced reading and has read the "Anne of Green Gables" series, which has some sad parts to them.

She brought home a book recently from her school library - the diary of a young Irish girl emmigrating to America during the 1840's. I had an inner "uh-oh, this might not be good" when I saw it. But, I didn't say anything and she started reading it. Well, that night she she started bawling in bed about the horrible things this girl went through. You can probably guess how it went: famine causes widespread starvation/death, her mother dies of typhoid fever on the voyage across the Atlantic, etc, etc. It was a hint of how difficult life can be and I think she's starting to come out of that bubble. Her pet hamster and her great, great aunt also died this past summer, which put the issue of life and death front and centre for her. I don't see any reason to completely deflate any residual inflation from her bubble right now, by telling her there's no Santa.

All kids are different and we can't just treat them in cookie-cutter fashion.

 

[markw]

MrMcCloud, a jury of 12 elves has found you guilty of execssive grinchness.

Your punishment is to adopt this as your avatar (assuming it fits) until 12/26/2012 unless, of course, the world comes to an end on 12/21/12. In which case, you can revert to your original avatar.



(Just kiddin' This stuff happens. The world won't end for te kids.)

 

[Swerd]

When I first read this thread over the weekend, I thought about it and realized that I was probably in the first grade when I realized that this Santa business was fake. Another friend and I decided that unless everyone had a fireplace & chimney (and it had to be large enough), Santa had to be false. We decided that it was a myth for little kids but not us. I seriously doubt if we mentioned this to our parents.

Most kids I knew talked about this only when no adults were present.

Another clear hint to us was that TV commercials talked about Santa. Even at that tender young age, we all knew that TV commercials were lies.

I had an older sister, and my friend in first grade had an older brother. That has something to do with how quickly you learn these things. If you're the oldest, or have no siblings, it may come slower.

I asked my wife about her discovery of the "truth about Santa". She said she was in the 3rd grade when she spied on her parents putting presents under the tree late on Christmas eve. (She was the oldest among three kids.) She knew immediately that there could be no Santa, but she never let on to them.

And that's my point. Most kids figure it out long before they learn from their parents. But most kids fear that the goodies will stop if they tell their parents, so they hide what they already know.

My kids are now grown, and I realized by the time they were about 7-9 years old that most parents underestimate what their kids know, what they can do, or what they can figure out on their own.

Of course you still have to watch them closely so they don't screw up in a really stupid and irreversible way.

 

[Adam]

I was eight or nine at the time, was the youngest of three brothers, and I had to be told. Well, maybe I asked, but we all know how daft I am. I remember hearing kids at school talking about it once or twice. It still came like a kick to the nads when I was told, though. The Santa/Easter Bunny double feature.

In retrospect, I wonder what really shocked me. Finding out that they didn't exist, or the subconscious realization that everything my parents told me wasn't true. Huh. I didn't think of that until just now.

Thanks, ImcLoud. Your douchery has led me a revelation.

 

[ImcLoud]

Thanks, ImcLoud. Your douchery has led me a revelation.

You, my friend are very welcome...

I'll never forget the day I figured out my parents didn't know everything... Shortly followed by the day I figured out I knew more at half their age... then followed by the realization that I did not know very much at all..

 

[lsiberian]

You, my friend are very welcome...

I'll never forget the day I figured out my parents didn't know everything... Shortly followed by the day I figured out I knew more at half their age... then followed by the realization that I did not know very much at all..

It's always crazy how they make the connection.

 

[GranteedEV]

I don't think I ever believed in Santa Claus. It was a fascinating subject for me as a kid though

Considering the world had a population of over 4 billion, of which only about 30% celebrates christmas, which was only a ~1995 year old holiday - if that - I always thought the concept of someone so biased and fast was pretty stupid. If it takes him about 10 minutes per house, he couldn't possibly even do a whole city, never mind the whole world, in one night. Geography class showed that there's no usefully habitable location as the North Pole. So the only way Santa could exist would be if he lived in the South Pole with Penguins. I also wondered how the postal service could deliver to the North Pole without a postal code.

I always believed in the Easter Bunny though.

 

[Adam]

One word: magic.

 

[Irvrobinson]

I always believed in the Easter Bunny though.

For me it was John Wayne, pilgrim. Or maybe I liked Wayne just because he often had Maureen O'Hara (at least on-screen), and I've always had this thing for redheads with a hot temper. When I was a kid I had a crush on her, and Jill St. John. Now that I think about it, the hell with Wayne.

 

[Swerd]

I don't think I ever believed in Santa Claus. It was a fascinating subject for me as a kid though

Considering the world had a population of over 4 billion, of which only about 30% celebrates christmas, which was only a ~1995 year old holiday - if that - I always thought the concept of someone so biased and fast was pretty stupid. If it takes him about 10 minutes per house, he couldn't possibly even do a whole city, never mind the whole world, in one night. Geography class showed that there's no usefully habitable location as the North Pole. So the only way Santa could exist would be if he lived in the South Pole with Penguins. I also wondered how the postal service could deliver to the North Pole without a postal code.

I always believed in the Easter Bunny though.

Were you born with a calculator and a pocket protector? Oh wait, I forgot, you're Canadian. You were born with a slide rule and a pocket protector .

 

[GranteedEV]

One word: magic.

Fair enough, but I always thought it was lame. When you're watching this sort of thing on TV:

Princess Serenity Vs Queen Beryl

, the Santa Claus degree of magic just seems lame

 

[panteragstk]

I don't think I ever believed in Santa Claus. It was a fascinating subject for me as a kid though

Considering the world had a population of over 4 billion, of which only about 30% celebrates christmas, which was only a ~1995 year old holiday - if that - I always thought the concept of someone so biased and fast was pretty stupid. If it takes him about 10 minutes per house, he couldn't possibly even do a whole city, never mind the whole world, in one night. Geography class showed that there's no usefully habitable location as the North Pole. So the only way Santa could exist would be if he lived in the South Pole with Penguins. I also wondered how the postal service could deliver to the North Pole without a postal code.

I always believed in the Easter Bunny though.

You sir didn't read the article I posted.