Trouble in Paradise
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
When did you get the bad news? (Clicky Poll)
I'm dying of boredom right now and thinking back to a discussion my coworkers had a lunch on Wednesday.
[Poll]
Re: When did you get the bad news? (Clicky Poll)
I don't remember ever literally believing in Santa. He was always kind of just this jolly holiday fictional pal.
My great-uncle looks like Santa. He, my dad, BIL, and Mr. Bang recently went target shooting together and now Mr. Bang is hoping that Uncle will play Santa for the little dude. Hehe.
To explain the advent of the original convo, one of my coworkers somehow managed to keep her kid convinced until he was NINE and found out from someone at school. On the other hand, there is a woman who, when her kids ask if he's real answers, "It's fun to believe in Santa" so she doesn't feel like she's lying to them.
Personally, I don't remember believing, but I think it has to do with having a twin sister. When your mom asks if you want to give her a puzzle, diary or stuffed animal for Christmas and she gets the two you didn't pick from "Santa" you start to connect the dots.
I never believed. My older brother figured it out when he was like 3 and I was 1 and I guess my parents just thought "Fuuck it." and never did the Santa thing for me. I knew all my presents came from my parents/family. No big loss and I never ruined it for anyone either.
I don't remember how old I was, but I remember being in the tub and my older sister burst into the bathroom and told me. She claimed my mom said she could tell me. This was not true. Not only was I heartbroken, but I had to keep the secret from our younger sister, who is just a year and 1/2 younger than me.
I believed for a looooong time. We used to go to this Christmas party every year. Santa came to it, too, and he KNEW things about all of us. He knew when I was mean to my brother. Everything. (parents filled out info sheets on the kids and santa somehow memorized them, it was amazing)
I finally figured it out when I realized that Santa was wrapping our stocking presents in the same paper that was in my mom's drawer.
First off, that holiday party sounds amazing. I remember feeling a little duped when I realized that parents take their kids to see Santa so they can eavesdrop on what the kid wants.
But yeah, the wrapping paper was another big giveaway.
I was probably the last in my class to believe because of it.
Our Santa presents under the tree were never wrapped, only the stocking ones. They would all be wrapped in tissue paper. One day, I found the paper.
And then I lorded it over my brother's head when he wouldn't do what I wanted him to.
Motzie: My older sis (by 16 months) totally did this same thing to me!! In the tub and ALL!! I was just 5. I had no idea. And I had to hide it/ keep pretending to believe for my little brother. Grrrr!!!!!
Are you united with the CCOKCs?
Are you an only child?
Lucky guess
My SIL managed to keep her son believing until a year ago fall. He was 10 (nearly 11, birthday is at Thanksgiving). I couldn't believe it.
Her daughter had already figured it out (she was 8 last year) and SIL had to BEG her not to say anything to him.
I think I was around 7. I have an older brother and sister. No one squealed, but my mom had recruited my sister by then to help her dash and put the presents under the tree while the rest of us were getting in the car to go to Xmas Eve service (so they'd be there when we got back). Also by that year, I could see that Santa's handwriting was the same as my mom's.
I got the smarts!
I figured it out around 5 when "Santa" used the same Sesame Street wrapping paper that my mom had bought a couple of weeks before when I was with her. I didn't tell my parents for a couple of years though.
My FI had to be told the truth at 11 because his mom was worried about other kids making fun of him.
I think I figured it out when I was 8. We had this loft over our living room. I snuck out one evening to see "Santa" and discovered that my mom was wrapping all the presents. I asked her about it the next morning and she let me down easy with, "Santa can be anyone who has the Christmas Spirit of giving" or something like that.
I don't remember being crushed about it. I remember that it made sense to me at the time and I just went with it. My Aunt asked me not to tell my younger cousins about it so I kept it to myself. They eventually figured it out in much the same fashion. I don't remember feeling robbed or anything like that.
I was about 10 or 11, and I don't know exactly what happened. I think I realized it when I was helping her wrap Christmas presents, that she told me were from the family to the family, and I realized that there were only four other people in my family yet there were about 12 presents in my stack. She never actually uttered the words there is no Santa though. He just kind of went from corporeal person, to a spirit.
As someone expressed to me last year, there are four stages of life
You believe in Santa
You don't believe in Santa
You are Santa
You look like Santa
It's a very very strange story.
I was in 4th grade; my brother was in 2nd.
It was about 3 months after my father died.
My brother and I went into the living room on Christmas Day. There was nothing there at all.
The only thing we found was an envelope addressed to us...from "Santa."
you could see that this was my mother's handwriting, not well disgused.
It thanked us for the milk and cookies and then said "I am sorry there are no presents; the reindeer and I got stuck in a bad storm and the toys all blew away. I hope you will forgive me." and it was signed Santa.
It ws pretty effed up in our house after our father died; he got sick in February and by October he was gone. Did my mother lose it? Did she just not want to go out and shop for the holidays? I don't know.
She wasn't keen on us celebrating Halloween either -- she didn't think a "celebration" so soon after our father dying was a good idea.
We had no tree up, either. She didn't see why; again, this was celebrating and she didn't think a tree for Christmas was a good idea.
A 9 year old already figured it out there is no Santa...but wow, cut my bro a break. He was only 7 and he was still at the "believe" stage.
I was that kid in third grade who spilled it to all the classmates. I explained about the real St. Nicholas, the fictional Santa Claus. The works. There was an angry mob, let me tell you.
I have a pretty funny story about my older son learning about it. He must have been in first or second grade (right on the cusp of figuring it out), and on Christmas Eve asked me to write my name on a piece of paper, then went to Dad with the same request. Then he told me his plot. He was going to ask Santa for his autograph and then compare sigs, and from there would surely be able to figure it out. So I printed a note including Santa's signature using a handwriting font for DS to find in the morning, and he was convinced, beyond a doubt, about the existence of Santa Claus. So convinced, in fact, that I had to tell him the truth before he went back to school after the break and started blabbing. I was afraid his friends would laugh at him, and I didn't want that on my conscience! So I guess I blabbed as an adult, too.
I'm having a hard time this year with my son. He's in grade one and came home last week and asked if Santa was real. I told him that he was. He said that 2 girls in his class said he wasn't real. I said I believed in Santa and he said "Me too".
Thought that was the end of it. We went to get pictures taken with Santa and he told me that he was just someone dressed like Santa. I figured that was it but he said that mall Santa will go and tell the real Santa what he told him.
I love the innocence of "Santa" and love that Gav believes. I'm sure this will be the last year though, kids grow up too fast
Oh, Tarpon. ((hugs)). I am so sorry. That's just brutal. I cannot remember the Christmas after my mom died; it is a complete blank.
I remember exactly the moment of confirmation - I was 8 and caught my mom and grampa stuffing the stockings - but I don't remember it being devastating. I must have been already leaning toward non-belief.
My mom must have known that I wasn't surprised. I distinctly remember that the only thing she said was, "Pleeease don't tell your brother yet." He's 2 years younger than me. I never blabbed.