How old were your children when they found out Father Christmas wasn't real?

Personally I wouldn’t call it a ‘lie’ as such - just an innocent bit of make believe.

Excitement over Father Christmas coming was such a big part of my childhood Christmases, I was absolutely furious with a so-called friend who told dd1 - she was only 5 - that he didn’t exist. The friend was slightly on the ‘rough’ side, to put it politely, and since dd had heard her effing and blinding very loudly in public, I told her that the friend had probably been so naughty when she was little that FC never came - so no wonder she didn’t believe in him.

Luckily it worked like a dream.

I can’t remember our three DDs suddenly realising.
Father Christmas only ever filled the stockings, other gifts were always known to have come from friends and relatives.
We are lucky that he still brings stocking fillers every year !

My girls are 30 now and grandchildren are 12, 10 and 5. We all still ' play the game ' were father Christmas is concerned, its part of the fun of Christmas

I just recall mum getting us all worked up with excitement (well, to be fair, she was herself) then getting cross us elder ones were too wound up to go to bed.

We never told our boys about Father Christmas. They had sacks of presents and knew about the myth of FC. We feel the story of Jesus' birth is special enough . I don't ever feel they got a raw deal and I always hated the idea of parents lying to children.

We always did little things in stockings only from FC, too. Anything else - and anything bigger/more expensive was from parents or other family.

FC still comes to everyone sleeping in this house on Christmas Eve, though, regardless of age. The stocking might be a very little one - e.g. one nice new sock, with the other and a few little bits inside, but everyone has to have one - it’s the law here. 🎄

I grew up in a catholic family and my father was quite unequivocal killjoy there is no such thing as Father Christmas", possibly because FC is represented as a omnipresent being which rather conflicted with God. We had all the usual presents and treats at Christmas once we'd got mass out of the way been to church, just not the make believe!

Funny isn’t it that some parents regard the FC shebang as ‘magical’ whilst some shun it as ‘lies’.

I do wonder though, did the parents who don’t promote it to their children have the enjoyment of FC in their own childhoods?

Personally, as a child lying in bed on Christmas Eve some 60y ago (when I’d be 8y) having enjoyed the warmth downstairs with my mum, dad and little sister, that frisson of Christmas excitement at the magic of FC on his way with a sleigh full of parcels was beyond compare.

Thank you mum and dad.

Me? I guess I was 8 and felt lied by my parents
If they lied to me about something that stupid and inconsequential, what else would they lie to me about?

My kids know Santa doesnt exist since birth and its mom and dad who buys the presents.

They enjoy xmas - no difference.

It is mom and dad who buy.... sorry!

When my youngest daughter was about 4 she asked if when she is older would she ‘understand ‘ about Father Christmas, the tooth fairy and the Easter bunny. I simply said yes and left it at that.🥴

Unfortunately my eldest daughter found out from kids at school when she was about 9 and told my youngest who was devastated at only 6. My daughter told her eldest daughter just before she started secondary school, she was 10 at that point. She was pretty upset too.But the FUNNY thing was that after she had gone to bed that night she came back down and said ‘Mummy - what about the tooth fairy, is she real ?’ 😂 This year however she has enjoyed keeping all the secrets and keeping the magic alive for her little sister. 👍

Thank you mum and dad.

Waking early on Christmas Day, pushing your toes against something which crackle at the end of the bed - the stocking!

No pillowcases in those days, it was a kind of thick cellophane stocking.

My daughter was eight and she asked me that question, I told her the truth.
She was not disappointed, but relieved I had confirmed her doubts.

Me too, Urmstongran - it was so magically exciting, and I wanted the same for our dds.

It never once occurred to me that my parents had ‘lied’ to me. On the contrary, I was very grateful to them for the totally innocent pretence - especially when money for stocking presents was always tight - which made childhood Christmases so memorable.

I said upthread that my parents never gave us the impression there was a Father Christmas. I think they must have "seriously discussed it" because they placed (sometimes rather overwhelmingly) value on "Never Lying it was Wrong". so I suppose this is why it never occurred there might be a Father Christmas to me, tho for the life of me I cannot recall at 5 years old when I went out of the family into the school world what other girls and boys thought.

I'm quite happy for other families to enjoy this, btw (unless a child is frightened by the idea of a stranger).

I found out at 6 yrs old. There was a Christmas Card, from father Christmas with the presents saying "be a good girl" from Father Christmas. It was what my dad always said to me when he left for work and the writing was the same as his especially the F in Father. I could read well at 4 so worked it out.

I think both of mine were about 9 years old, with a 5 year gamp, my daughter, the eldest, didn’t ‘tell’, she quite enjoyed being in on it.
I too loved the magic of Christmas Eve and the morning, one we’ve been lucky to relive again with our grandchildren as they’ve always stayed here. The youngest will be 10 in January, I wonder if this Christmas 2022, or maybe it was 2021 will be the very last time.

Oi!! What do you mean he isn't real? Of course he's real, just ask Rudolph & his other reindeer friends, they'll tell you!

Awww, bless the poor lad, Foxglove77.
He was trying to save his parents money, too!

My granddaughter recently asked me to tell her the truth about Santa, so I did. I told her that he was originally a real person called Saint Nicholas. Unfortunately he didn't have reindeer and couldn't give billions of children gifts, but he did help children who lived nearby.
I told her that Christmas is a 'fantasy' time of year for little children and she shouldn't let this upset her Christmas, as it is still a special time of year. She accepted this, as I suspect she had known for some time!
Anyway, she has a new baby brother due any day now, so she can share the fantasy with him!!

Btw, don't tell Santa I don't believe anymore, as I'd still love a surprise gift from him....and I don't want to upset the elves!

My just turned 8 yr old GS is asking is he real! trouble is he has adhd and he will go balistic at his mum for lying!

Of course he is real I never doubted it until my 15 year old granddaughter told me the truth.

I don't remember how old my bairns were. I know I was seven when I worked it out but kept quiet as I knew my mother liked playing Santa Claus and my little sister still thought Santa was real.

mumofmadboys

We never told our boys about Father Christmas. They had sacks of presents and knew about the myth of FC. We feel the story of Jesus' birth is special enough . I don't ever feel they got a raw deal and I always hated the idea of parents lying to children.

I agree you MOMB.

We did mention Father Christmas - but only in relation to things like 'The Night Before Christmas' which they had as a book -so they were aware. It was never a big deal in our house. They knew the presents they got were from us. They were all smart children and I wouldn't have wanted to lie to them anyway.

My boys never wrote letters to FC or all the other things that reinforce the myth. They might have done it at school though.

As a child I was frightened of going to see FC and having to sit on his knee etc. I find it a bit weird that we encourage this whilst all the while telling children to beware of strangers ...

One of my children was a nervous child and would never have slept if he thought FC was coming down the chimney and into his room. Quite understandable in my opinion.

Sorry if this is a bit bah humbug but I don't think my children missed out on anything

Think my kids were around 8 yrs when they found out
They weren’t all that fussed about it.
Up to that point they had loved the whole FC vibe tho.

Daddima, it would certainly have spoiled the magic for me as a child to know FC wasn’t real. The excitement on Christmas Eve was huge and I well remember desperately trying to stay awake to see him - unlike some, I was never afraid - despite being told that he wouldn’t come to children who weren’t fast asleep!