Santa... and your kids...

Yep. I remember being up until 4:30 am building a wildly elaborate doll house for my daughter. Somehow, I've tricked myself into looking back fondly on that night.

 

Of my older two boys, the younger one finally figured it out when he was 8 or 9. But I told him (truthfully, in fact) that the Christmases I remember most were not the ones where I got something from Santa but where I was helping my dad set up the morning for my younger sisters, and that with a sister who was 3 years old at the time the boys had many more years to look forward to Santa stopping at the house. That helped ease the letdown.

We now have a younger child than that. So in a few years we will have a college student and a first-grader. It definitely keeps the magic and has the older ones way more excited to play along.

 

Don't worry. You are all great parents. You are all doing the right thing.

 

We need Whitman!

I mean, nobody has even touched the fact that Santa is as true as Jesus.

 

It helps that there are movies like "Rise of the Guardians" out there that go with a "He only exists if you believe" which is a pretty sweet message for a kid who is starting to question things.

 

Dickie would have loved this topic. It was built for Slate's postmodernism.

 

@LTL, hope you enjoy the age spread as much as we do.

Our oldest graduates high school this year and has siblings who are 3 and 6. I legitamately shocked at how much the teenager enjoys her brother AMD sister.

 

This was definitely my experience with my nephews. They knew for a couple of years before they totally fessed up. They knew as long as my sister was enjoying the ruse that they'd get more booty. She'd ask them, and they'd say "of course we still believe," then roll their eyes and smirk at each other after mom left the room. I probably did the same thing. It's all about getting the stuff you want at that age.

 

Orange slices for everyone?

 

Now that's laugh out loud funny.

 

The worst experiences make the best stories.

 

i'm a little confused, though.
did some of you get less for xmas because you didn't believe in santa claus anymore?
I stopped beliving at 6 or 7, but i was still young enough to play with toys. i never noticed any change in the amount of stuff my parents gave me for xmas.