Those words regarding Santa....

[MrsC]

Yes, they were uttered to me on the way home from school. Knew it couldn't last must longer, but it's not nice when they say 'Mum, tell me the truth, Santa isn't real is he?'

[Nicos]

Silly child...of course he is......

....my kids know he exists- they wouldn't get their extra Santa pressies if they'd not been good....and yup...my kids are in their 20's !!

[enrich100]

sadly its part of growing up, my eldest is only 5 so hopefully I have a couple more years of believing before that question is asked, thank god imaginary friends are real though, mines stuck with me through thick and thin for almost 40 years now

[petal]

I believe in santa.

[lottie dolly]

I wonder how many of our younger members will reading this thread,and will give it some thought lol,but if you do believe ...................

[Hilary B]

sadly its part of growing up, my eldest is only 5 so hopefully I have a couple more years of believing before that question is asked, thank god imaginary friends are real though, mines stuck with me through thick and thin for almost 40 years now

My imaginary friends were all animals. A few of them still visit from time to time, a couple I shared with my children who may or may not have 'grown out of' them now.

[OllieMartin]

I'm 27 and good luck getting my mum to admit there's no Santa.
I had it broken to me by my smug-faced brother shortly after he found out!

[enrich100]

My imaginary friends were all animals. A few of them still visit from time to time, a couple I shared with my children who may or may not have 'grown out of' them now.

Invisible friends are usually trustworthy its your shadow you need to keep an eye on, On more than one occasion I have caught mine making gestures behind my back

[bobleponge]

Of course santa isnt real, he is an American imposter. Father Christmas on the other hand is quite clearly "The Man."

Probably my besterest Christmas memory ever was a few years ago, first christmas in France I think, had friends over, including 2 kids who still believed.
Late (ish) on christmas eve, I disappeared into the garage after having tipped the wink to a couple of the growedy ups, shimmied into my Father Christmas costume, and then stood by the kitchen window.
The 2 young kiddies were then coincidentally walked through the kitchen, and they both saw me, long enough to see me but I then scarpered off, so it was just a fleeting glimpse. The looks on their faces (they were old enough to believe, but too old to still be scared) was quite simply awesome.
Like The Shopkeeper in Mr Benn, I was back in the house in a jiffy, and we all went off into the garden on a search for the bearded one, but no sign was found.
Kids at christmas = brilliant.

[ginger ninger]

My friends little girl is 3, last Christmas was great with her, but this year I can't wait she's been asking when can we go for the tree, she's even growing special carrots with magic powers to help Rudolf fly..

[Hilary B]

Santa Claus is simply some other language (Dutch?) for Saint Nicholas, the origin of Father Christmas (yes there are pre-christian equivalents which also play a part in the images we all have, but they belong to Yule or whatever pre-christian version of the celebration floats your boat).
The details of the red suit etc seem to derive from a 1930s Coca-Cola advert, but I suspect SOME kind of red outfit has long been part of the image. St Nicholas is sometimes portrayed as a high ranking churchman, and some of those wore red.

[Stacey Steve]

Father Christmas is real and has an allotment on our site. He is busy letting his beard grow at present but could have done with a bit more sun to bleach it some more. He evidentially always wears green when he sees all the children at Milton Keynes shopping centre.

He told me that last year a little girl asked if she could pull his ears. When he asked why, she said her elder brother had told that there was no Father Christmas and you could tell because his beard was on elastic over his ears.

He said it hurt but was worth it to think how she was going to gloat to her brother.

[janeyo]

my mum always used to say if you don't believe then he won't come!
I saw him once, shooting through the sky on his sleigh...

Now we watch him on google earth on xmas eve, doing his rounds it's brilliant for children! And he defo doesn't get to the the uk till all good boys and girls are in bed!

[marathon]

my mum always used to say if you don't believe then he won't come!
I saw him once, shooting through the sky on his sleigh...

Now we watch him on google earth on xmas eve, doing his rounds it's brilliant for children! And he defo doesn't get to the the uk till all good boys and girls are in bed!

we watch google earth on Christmas Eve and the children get so excited. I thought my 9 year old was beginning to doubt if he was real but last year he reminded me of the site and he was just as excited as the girls.

[organic]

My folks took a great approach to the sticky issue of Santa.

When we asked probing questions my mum would just ask back, "What do you think?".
When I'd figured it out (can't remember how old I was now) I answered "I think its you and Dad." Which she confirmed and I went off to think about the implications. The first thing that came to mind was how lucky I'd been and how generous my parents were.
I'm glad to say I never was the 'orrible older sibling so didn't ruin it for my youngers.

Doing it that way there's no need to break a kids heart earlier than necessary, it comes to a natural, rather than unpleasant end, and also (get this) encourages kids to think things through for themselves. Not bad.

It was tough on my little brother though, my sister and I (8 and 10 years his senior respectively) played such a good act for him that he had to be told before some scumbag at school did the job (which wouldn't have made him look good at all) and he was rather upset.

I think the lesson there is to make sure the older siblings, if playing along, don't play TOO good a part.
It does leave the same sticky situation if your kid isn't quite so inquisitive though.