How old were you when you found out Santa wasn't real?

andrew's wifey

Were you told or did you figure it out?

 

I figured it out after years of my parents not letting me sleep in the living room to try and sneak a peak at Santa.  I finally asked my mom one day, I guess I was 8ish, and she gave me the whole, "Santa is real in our hearts" schpeel.  I'm cool with that I guess.

ETA:  I guess I should also add that Santa's writing on his letters to me by the empty cookie plate and the gift tags all looked suspiciously like my mom's.

robinsokj

I dont remember how old I was but I guess I was around 5 or 6.  I figured out that Santa used the same wrapping paper as my parents.  Boy was I pissed.

tamerbelles

He's not real? Oh crap, I guess 23 then.

 

Ok, I was 9 and I had a good clue, but I was scared that if I didn't believe I wouldn't get presents for Christmas anymore. And dammit, that year I REALLY wanted my American Girl doll. I waited until after the doll was secure to confront my mom. And then I cried for good measure so she wouldn't know my ploy to get the doll. 

MrsMcC091909

I suspected for a while, but in 5th grade my parents were sneakily bringing things down from the attic, which was right by my bedroom door, and my suspicions were confirmed.

SBma

I had suspicions around 5.  My sister told me when I was around 6.  That was a sad day.  Once I knew he wasn't real, I would notice my mom's handwriting on the card from "Santa." 

ValentineBB

Wait, what???

jessicasue87

robinsokj:

I dont remember how old I was but I guess I was around 5 or 6.  I figured out that Santa used the same wrapping paper as my parents.  Boy was I pissed.

this!!! i can't remember how old i was exactly though! however here I am at 22 and my sister is 18 and we still get gifts from 'santa' from our parents!!!

preppynewlywed

I was older.  Maybe 10 or 11?

My parents were way into the Santa thing.  They put hoof stamps in the snow if it snowed on Christmas.  They had the neighbors write the thank you for the cookies note so we didn't recognize the handwriting.  They had the same neighbor write the gift labels [they all exchanged so my parents did it for someone else].

Plus since I am the oldest of 5 and there is a big age gap, once I did figure it out I kept it to myself.  I didn't want any of my siblings to be sad over it.

stuzyq14

I alwasy knew santa wasn't real - but we always palyed santa and I still to this day get a "santa" present - something totaly fun.

My parents wanted to make sure we never got confused between truth and make believe (but we always had a healthy love for make believe in our house - heck I ended up a theatre major in undergrad!) 

two-pink-shoes

My parents always told me he was pretend.  They'd still sign our big presents from Santa, but we knew it was my parents.

j_luvs_r

Apparently, I am a freak.  My mom says that I started asking questions around 3!!!  I didn't truly give in to my disbelief until I was 5 though.  My mom & Santa also had the same handwriting and wrapping paper.  Also, my mom is a crappy liar. 

greenclown

9.

We were watching a movie at school on the last day before Christmas break.  The teacher left the room, and someone asked who still believed in Santa.  I didn't understand why he was even asking such a question, and being lame, I waited to raise my hand until I saw who else raised their hands.   Only this one really dorky kid raised his hand, and everyone made fun of him.  I was crushed.

Anna&Matt

My parents still refuse to admit that Santa's not real. But I knew by 5th grade or so but played along with it through middle school. When I did confront them about it in 9th grade my mom got upset so I just pretended to believe in Santa still.

katib77

I had just turned five the week before.  I saw my new bike hidden in the garage and thought it was my birthday present.  When I didn't get it on my birthday but instead got it xmas morning from *santa* I called my parents out on it saying "then why was it hidden in the garage behind boards?"  The jig was up and since my older brother knew they figured why try to lie more?

Amorlinda

I never did. We open gifts at midnight when Santa is supposed to come and drop them off...

XXXXX222

We didn't really do the Santa thing ever.

Newspaper Articles

I knew from the beginning he wasn't real.  My mom didn't allow us to believe in Santa.  And she often told us that if we saw someone in our house in the middle of the night, we were to call the police because it ain't Santa.

 

charlies-angel

2nd grade

mmk3742

ValentineBB:

Wait, what???

This.  I still get presents from Santa under the tree!

Disneygeek77

I was in kindergarten.  I watched a scary show on television about burglars.  That night I couldn't sleep because I was afraid  that someone would break into our house.  I got up to talk to my parents about it and they assured me that no one would break into our house because the doors were locked, the windows were locked and besides the dogs would bark.  I responded " Well they don't bark when Santa comes."  I remember my parents looked at each other and then told me the truth.  I didn't take it too bad.  I was the oldest of three at that time so they assured me that next Christmas I could stay up later, help them with the presents and even eat the cookies as long as I didn't say a thing to my younger siblings.  I was cool with that. 

My younger sister, number 6 now, has a bad story.  When she was in first or second grade my mom asked her to help her wrap presents.  While my sister was helping her, my mom set some presents aside and said " Don't wrap those, they will be from Santa."  My mom said my sister looked at her and she had these huge crocodile tears in her eyes.  My mom still feels terrible for that one.