Would you expect a 7th grader to know that Santa isn't real?

[forty-two]

Dh just got a call from a parent of a student in his 7th grade confirmation class who was upset that he had referred to Santa as a legend in class. He was talking about the Council of Nicea, and since the historical St. Nicholas was at that council (slapping heretics :D), he told them a bit about St. Nicholas' life, mentioning that he was the historical figure that the legend of Santa Claus was based on. It never really occurred to dh that kids wouldn't have figured out that Santa isn't real by 7th grade - I was surprised to hear otherwise, as well. When he said as much to the parent, the response was that their dd preferred to hold on to childhood things still. Which is all well and good - but does that mean that she really had *no clue* that Santa is a legend, that dh burst her bubble? Because he didn't say anything for or against doing Santa, just that Santa is a legend (and thus not real), and that in passing.

 

So we were wondering if our expectations are off - that 7th grade is *not* yet safe to assume that everyone has figured out that Santa is a legend. What sayeth the Hive?

[Perry]

I don't know any 7th graders who still believe in Santa.

[K&Rs Mom]

I would have assumed it was "safe" by that age too. And the story about Nicholas & Arius is one of my favorites. :D

[Murphy101]

Yes. The parents need to get a clue.

 

The kid had to have been hearing for several years that Santa wasn't real. I doubt your dh was the first to say it.

[Tidbits of Learning]

It is well past time for them to have figured it out or had their bubble burst by their peers. Maybe the parents would like their child to stay with childish things longer? I am not sure.

I always liked the way my Mom handled it when I was a kid and a child would let slip that Santa may be a legend. She would look me in the eye and say what do you believe in your heart right now? At 8, I still believed and wanted to believe so I said I believed he was real. My mother said that was all that was important then was that I believed and wanted him to be real. So she never lied to me and said he was real or another child was mistaken. However, about a year or 2 later I knew the truth and was ready to let go of Santa.

I can't imagine a 7th grader that didn't have other issues not being ready to hear the truth. As parents, we all decide when to help our children put away childish things. Maybe this parent wasn't ready yet? I don't think they can blame your dh though given the child's age. If you would have said an 8 yr old or maybe even a 10 yr old, but at 12 or 13; then, I am sure they are not clueless about Santa or the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny...

[Unicorn.]

I don't know any 7th graders who still believe in Santa.

 

My dd's could be in 7th- age wise, and they still believe. One of them will probably believe until she has kids of her own, and then I will let her know, but for now- I would not expect 7th graders to know.

[FaithManor]

Is this a special needs 7th grader? My reason for asking is that I've met some parents of aspies who have found that the "shattering" of child hood myths is pretty emotionally grueling to deal with at home and have allowed their children to believe in Santa, the Tooth Fairy, etc. far longer than would be expected. It has a lot to do with lagging emotional maturity. Under normal circumstances, I would say "WHOA!"

 

Faith

[Lawana]

Any child of normal intelligence in 7th grade (at least 12) that hasn't figured out for himself that Santa Clause isn't real is seriously behing in critical thinking skills. I would absolutely assume it was safe to discuss the legend of Santa Clause with a 7th grader.

[Parrothead]

I could see it happening to my dd. I told her the truth last year. She has decided that it is best if she and I forget that conversation never happened. So deep down she knows, but we both say that we believe.

 

That said, I don't think in a year when she is 12 and in 7th grade that I'd be calling a teacher in the manner you described. Add to that most 7th graders are 13. I think by 13 they need to know for sure.

[MamaSheep]

I would expect a child that age to know. Unless, as a previous poster mentioned, it's a special needs student. But even then...

[Carol in Cal.]

I find this very startling. I can't imagine anyone lasting past age 9, and that is pretty late, IMO.

 

Furthermore, I can't imagine anyone expecting a pastor to be untruthful. That is completely unacceptable. Ridiculous, really.

[QueenCat]

Any child of normal intelligence in 7th grade (at least 12) that hasn't figured out for himself that Santa Clause isn't real is seriously behing in critical thinking skills. I would absolutely assume it was safe to discuss the legend of Santa Clause with a 7th grader.

 

:iagree: If it is a child with intellectual impairments, I could understand, but normally, I would expect the parents to have it explained the "spirit" of Santa by 7th grade.

[akmommy]

I would. All of mine had it figured out somewhere between their 7th and 9th birthdays. However we never made Santa a big part of our celebrations. We wanted to allow the childhood fantasies without 1) lying to them and 2) retarding their developmet (in other words I think it's great that little children have the ability to believe in magic but there comes a point when they need to learn to seperate fantasy from reality, and fact from fiction).

 

I burst my younger cousins bubble when she was 9 or 10. I had it figured out at 6 or 7yrs old so it just never occurred to me that she would still believe. :blush:

[silliness7]

I think it's not my responsibility to perpetuate someone else's lies.

 

Yes, I'm cranky today.

[Julie in CA]

I'm shocked that anyone thinks 7th graders would not know, and I think that at that age the kids are just playing along really well for the parents' sake.

 

The parents probably need to reassess their idea of what it will take to raise mentally/emotionally mature teens. At some point we should be encouraging our children to make mature decisions, and the ability to make mature decisions rests (in large part) upon being able to identify *truth*. Do they not want that for their teens? :confused: There are plenty of other meaningful and memorable traditions (beyond believing the Santa legend) that can be celebrated in a way that will build up maturity rather than tearing it down. :001_smile:

[AHASRADA]

I don't know, I would tend to expect they would know by that age. However, my ds has a friend who will be turning 14 in a month, who is still ambivalent. He says he still believes, but he's starting to question a bit :001_huh:.

 

I suspect the children either want to keep holding on to that part of their childhood, despite how illogical it may seem, or they are afraid to lose the gifts brought by "Santa".

 

Personally, I never got the point of lying to kids about the existence of these mythological creatures, only to have their belief (and possibly trust) crushed by peers, etc. But, I digress...

[Gratia271]

Personally, I never got the point of lying to kids about the existence of these mythological creatures, only to have their belief (and possibly trust) crushed by peers, etc. But, I digress...

 

:iagree:

[angela in ohio]

That's amazing! I have never heard of a child that age believing in Santa. :001_huh: And to be upset at your dh, even. :lol:

[dangermom]

I would be shocked to meet a 12yo who still believed in Santa. I do have a friend who believed until she was 12--her parents went to a lot of trouble to convince her that Santa was real. Every year, the same guy would dress up and visit her. She seems to have survived it OK, but I have to say that I don't think it's right to do that to your child.

[melmichigan]

Any child of normal intelligence in 7th grade (at least 12) that hasn't figured out for himself that Santa Clause isn't real is seriously behing in critical thinking skills. I would absolutely assume it was safe to discuss the legend of Santa Clause with a 7th grader.

 

:iagree:

 

I think it's not my responsibility to perpetuate someone else's lies.

 

Exactly.

[Pretty in Pink]

I think 12 is a bit late in the game to still be believing, deep down, in Santa. I would expect most every child that age to know that Santa was make believe.

[FriedClams]

I think it's not my responsibility to perpetuate someone else's lies.

 

Yes, I'm cranky today.

 

:lol::lol::lol: :iagree:

[Daisy]

We've always told our children just what the op's DH told the 7th graders so perhaps I shouldn't even respond.

 

I wouldn't have though twice about telling the truth about St. Nicholas.

 

If the kid really did believe Santa was real that class was a better place to find out about the truth then in a place where he'd be ridiculed by peers. I definitely think parents need to clue their kids in though.

[Murphy101]

I think it's not my responsibility to perpetuate someone else's lies.

 

Yes, I'm cranky today.

 

:iagree::lol:

[Paige]

I would expect a 12yr old to know the truth. And, I would expect that if they believed, then they would have already developed an explanation for other people's disbelief by now and having an adult express disbelief would not be surprising. There are so many books, tv shows, and movies where the main idea is that the adults or children don't believe in Santa and then find he is real. Has she been sheltered from all that too? It seems bizarre.

[Gwenhwyfar]

my dd13 was 11.5 when she got suspicious and questioned me... she was still 95% sure it was all real and this was the tail end of grade six.

 

ds12 still believes ~ he has special needs and has only had a couple of chistmases so far that he was able to "understand" the santa thing and have fun with it, so we won't be taking that away any time soon.

[mom2jjka]

Um....my 7th grader still does, as does her 5th grade brother. (and neither are special needs) ;)

 

Not being around other children in a classroom setting, they have not had the opportunity to have their 'bubble burst'. I assume that she will figure it out soon, but right now she still has that childlike innocence, and I'm not going to strip that away from her.

 

I will say though that Santa is not a big part of our Christmas celebration.

Santa leaves each of our kids one gift, and we have never really gotten into the mythology of him all that much, as we prefer to focus on the true meaning of Christmas - the birth of Christ. Still the kids mail a letter to Santa each year (which is answered...by local postal workers) and they get their one gift... so the 'magic' stays alive.

[Miss Sherry]

I really think it is very unhealthy for a person to be carrying on an untruth until they are as old as 12 or 13. They have got to have been getting in the habit of putting the truth out of their mind OR they have some serious issues with critical thinking skills. For this to happen, I think their parents have been going to great lengths to perpetuate their ignorance. Really, it's strange. I remember when I was about 13 I was visiting a family friend of ours who was also about that age and for some reason he was just finding out that Santa was not real. He was devastated. I remember how he was weeping and so torn up about Santa not being real. It was awful. You would have thought he had just found out one of his parents had been killed.

I think for a parent to manipulate their child and try to manipulate those around them to carry on this fantasy is a little sick when it gets to this point. After seeing how devastated that 13 year old boy was I have been of this opinion. Why would a parent NOT want their 12 or 13 year old to be developing ADULT level critical thinking skills at that point rather than perpetuating a silly fantasy ? Ewwwwwwww. :tongue_smilie:

 

I will add that I think "pretending" and knowing it's a game is one thing. But the boy I described above was NOT pretending.Also, he was not a special needs child on a different than typical developmental schedule. He actually believed Santa was real at the age of 13 and was grieving as if someone had died. I think this type of thing stunts a person's growth in some ways.

Edited November 3, 2010 by Miss Sherry

[abbeyej]

I can't *imagine* a 7th grader who doesn't *know* even if they *choose* to "believe". I would find a 7th grader who genuinely believes that a fat man in a red suit lives at the North Pole and delivers presents from a sleigh driven by flying reindeer and comes in through chimneys to be... bizarre. Just very, very strange.

 

On the other hand, I think it's perfectly possible for children to know the truth (and the real St. Nicholas and the traditions that have grown from that) and choose to continue to delight in the magic. My kids even find things for each other's stockings and sneak them to me with a twinkle in their eye, "Maybe Santa can put this in so-and-so's stocking!" ;) And they delight in unpacking their stockings. It's *fun* to play the game.

 

By 7th grade though?!? I would actually be concerned about a child who couldn't recognize the difference between real and make-believe (and sometimes an active choice to engage in that make-believe!)...

[Dawn in OH]

Wow. When I was a child most of the kids had figured out the truth around 4th grade (10 ish). I can't imagine anyone in 7th grade still believing.

 

Dawn, who is grateful that her 9 year old still believes, but knows he will make an excellent "elf" at Christmas time for the younger ones.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Seeing as by 7th grade I had many people tell me that many of my beliefs were myths - Noah's ark for one, and having to decide whether it was something that was real or not for my own, I don't see the problem with learning the historical truth of St. Nicholas and matching that against the Santa myth. In my case, I'm happy to report that I was able to look at these beliefs and come to the conclusion that I was not lied to and that they are based on fact.

 

ETA: My 5th grade teacher was the one who told me that Noah's ark was a myth. My parents didn't call her up to yell at her. They realized that I would have to deal with people with different beliefs at some point. Might as well be then.

Edited November 3, 2010 by Jean in Newcastle

[myfunnybunch]

Is this a special needs child? My dd with autism still believed in Santa at that age. (We told her the truth every year starting at age 10-11. It just took a while to really sink in.)

 

By 7th grade, despite the slim possibility that a student might still believe, I would certainly expect that mentioning the connection between St. Nicholas as a historical figure and the Santa Claus legend is appropriate for a classroom discussion. Whether or not the child believes isn't the real issue, IMO, it's the parent's repsonse. I can't imagine calling the teacher in an upset over this.

 

Cat

[FeFe]

I don't know of any seventh graders who still believe in Santa or the like.

 

However, I'm sure there are some that play along for the parents or younger siblings sake.

[Tidbits of Learning]

Wow. When I was a child most of the kids had figured out the truth around 4th grade (10 ish). I can't imagine anyone in 7th grade still believing.

 

Dawn, who is grateful that her 9 year old still believes, but knows he will make an excellent "elf" at Christmas time for the younger ones.

My dd10 became an apprentice elf last year! It is nice to have someone to go shopping with me now.:)

[Gwenhwyfar]

I really think it is very unhealthy for a person to be carrying on an untruth until they are as old as 12 or 13. They have got to have been getting in the habit of putting the truth out of their mind OR they have some serious issues with critical thinking skills. For this to happen, I think their parents have been going to great lengths to perpetuate their ignorance. Really, it's strange. I remember when I was about 13 I was visiting a family friend of ours who was also about that age and for some reason he was just finding out that Santa was not real. He was devastated. I remember how he was weeping and so torn up about Santa not being real. It was awful. You would have thought he had just found out one of his parents had been killed.

I think for a parent to manipulate their child and try to manipulate those around them to carry on this fantasy is a little sick when it gets to this point. After seeing how devastated that 13 year old boy was I have been of this opinion. Why would a parent NOT want their 12 or 13 year old to be developing ADULT level critical thinking skills at that point rather than perpetuating a silly fantasy ? Ewwwwwwww. :tongue_smilie:

 

I will add that I think "pretending" and knowing it's a game is one thing. But the boy I described above was NOT pretending.Also, he was not a special needs child on a different than typical developmental schedule. He actually believed Santa was real at the age of 13 and was grieving as if someone had died. I think this type of thing stunts a person's growth in some ways.

 

wow.

 

so a family who chooses to do something differently than YOU would choose is unhealthy, ignorant, manipulative, sick, and have kids with serious "issues" and stunted growth?

 

[oh and apparently gross or disgusting too, given that dramatic 'ewwwwww" up there.]

[Miss Sherry]

wow.

 

so a family who chooses to do something differently than YOU would choose is unhealthy, ignorant, manipulative, sick, and have kids with serious "issues" and stunted growth?

 

[oh and apparently gross or disgusting too, given that dramatic 'ewwwwww" up there.]

Everything isn't about ALWAYS ACCEPTING doing something differently.There are other issues in life, you know. LOL Some things DO cause problems for some children. In the world we live in, every child will come across people who believe differently than they do. They need to know how to THINK, not just repress the truth. This is not a personal insult against you. It's simply that I think letting a child deal with THINKING is better than pushing them to REPRESS thinking. Repressing thinking IS a problem. I'm sorry you don't care for my post. I don't care for lying to kids instead of encouraging them to think critically at the age of 12 or 13 and I don't apologize for saying so.

Good grief. I could say "but YOU'RE not ACCEPTING my point of view". Kind of silly to insist on looking at everything just from that slant. There are OTHER issues to think of.

Edited November 3, 2010 by Miss Sherry

[forty-two]

Thank you for all the responses. It's nice to know that we are not entirely off-base here. So far as dh knows, the student in question does not have any special needs.

 

Carol, your response was the same as my dh's first reaction - "You want me to *lie* to your child :confused:".

 

We don't do Santa ourselves - the kids know the Santa legend, but it is just one story out of many for them - so I wondered if our perception was skewed. But my family did Santa, and I knew the truth by 5th grade; in 7th my mom actually made sure that I was aware the Santa wasn't real - apparently I was being a little *too* convincing in playing along with my little sis :tongue_smilie:.

[Murphy101]

Everything isn't about ALWAYS ACCEPTING doing something differently. Some things DO cause problems for some children. In the world we live in, every child will come across people who believe differently than they do. They need to know how to THINK, not just repress the truth. This is not a personal insult against you. It's simply that I think letting a child deal with THINKING is better but pushing them to REPRESS thinking IS a problem. I'm sorry you don't care for my post. I don't care for lying to kids instead of encouraging them to think critically at the age of 12 or 13 and don't apologize for saying so.

 

This. Sure they can do what they want. But I too would find it weird. I sure wouldn't be mad at other people for doing what I should have done years prior, which in this case is letting my kid in on a common fact they should know by that age. If a parent doesn't want to do that, fine. But I wouldn't expect others to go along with it. I sure wouldn't call them upset about it.

[Gwenhwyfar]

wow.

 

so a family who chooses to do something differently than YOU would choose is unhealthy, ignorant, manipulative, sick, and have kids with serious "issues" and stunted growth?

 

[oh and apparently gross or disgusting too, given that dramatic 'ewwwwww" up there.]

 

Everything isn't about ALWAYS ACCEPTING doing something differently.There are other issues in life, you know. LOL Some things DO cause problems for some children. In the world we live in, every child will come across people who believe differently than they do. They need to know how to THINK, not just repress the truth. This is not a personal insult against you. It's simply that I think letting a child deal with THINKING is better than pushing them to REPRESS thinking. Repressing thinking IS a problem. I'm sorry you don't care for my post. I don't care for lying to kids instead of encouraging them to think critically at the age of 12 or 13 and I don't apologize for saying so.

Good grief. I could say "but YOU'RE not ACCEPTING my point of view". Kind of silly to insist on looking at everything just from that slant. There are OTHER issues to think of.

 

and now it's "repressing the truth" :laugh:

 

goodness, we better get those kids to a shrink!

[Julie in CA]

and now it's "repressing the truth" :laugh:

 

goodness, we better get those kids to a shrink!

:grouphug: I'm sorry you've been set off by the post above.

At the same time, I'm not seeing the personal attack you seem to be responding to. Regardless of how it's worded, it's clear that very few people view a belief in Santa going into the teen years as indicative of healthy critical thinking skills, and I think that's all that was being expressed. Rest assured, none of us is going to come down to your house to tell your kid/s the truth! :D In fact, I don't think anyone here would purposely destroy a belief in Santa, but neither would we expect to have to perpetuate the legend to kids that age. :001_smile:

[Miss Sherry]

and now it's "repressing the truth" :laugh:

 

goodness, we better get those kids to a shrink!

 

I'm sorry you are having a hard time processing someone elses point of view except by using sarcasm. :glare:

 

Actually, the grieving that my friend went through over his loss of someone he had believed in all of his life -Santa - was not something to be sarcastic and dismissive about. He was genuinely HURT. I think children should be treated with MORE respect than to be lied to . :tongue_smilie:If YOU want to think that his pain, and the pain of other children in that position is a big joke, go ahead and laugh. I think how we deal with our children IS NOT a big joke.

 

I thought it was more than a little odd that he still believed in Santa at that age. I don't think he would have been in that position if he had not been MANIPULATED by his family to continue the fantasy.

 

edited to comment on "repressing the truth " Yes, "repressing the truth" is a perfect description. It's unrealistic to think that that 13 year old boy, who attended public school, was involved in sports, had access to the radio and TV etc did not "hear" from someone or some source in all of those years that Santa was make believe. The way you continue to believe something that is NOT true is by telling yourself I'm going to keep believing it and ignore the truth you've heard. So yes, I absolutely believe he was repressing the truth, or maybe suppressing is more accurate. I don't know.

By the way. I think that particular 13 year old was extreme and was an exception. I have not met or heard of anyone that old since knowing him, who still believed in Santa. He had a very over bearing family. I think that was part of it.

Most children have it all figured out way before he did and are not nearly as traumatized or traumatized at all. But I still think it WAS disrespectful of the adults in his life to keep him in the dark for so long.

Edited November 3, 2010 by Miss Sherry

[NanceXToo]

I don't know any 7th graders who still believe in Santa.

 

Me either! I'd never in a million years imagine that there would be a 7th grader out there who still believed in Santa!

[Gwenhwyfar]

:grouphug: I'm sorry you've been set off by the post above.

At the same time, I'm not seeing the personal attack you seem to be responding to. Regardless of how it's worded, it's clear that very few people view a belief in Santa going into the teen years as indicative of healthy critical thinking skills, and I think that's all that was being expressed. Rest assured, none of us is going to come down to your house to tell your kid/s the truth! :D In fact, I don't think anyone here would purposely destroy a belief in Santa, but neither would we expect to have to perpetuate the legend to kids that age. :001_smile:

 

"the teen years" - that's very different to me than kids of 10, 11, even turning 12...which is what you most often see in the seventh grade.

 

i was 11 - in grade seven - when i found out. my dd13 was 11.5 when she came and asked for the truth, as she was suspicious. my ds12 still believes, although this is, as i said before, a special needs situation...he will believe for years if we continue to play - and we likely will, as he's brand new to the 'magic'. :D

 

there were other posters who mentioned that their kids were of similar ages - and i've known many others with kids around 11 who still believed...relatives, friends' kids, etc. 11 seems to be a common year for it to get "figured out", in my experience.

 

to see those families being called things like "sick", "unhealthy" ,"ignorant" and accused of "manipulating" their kids, or that there is some sort of psychological problem with their kids/kids thinking abilities --- yeah that bothers me. those are pretty strong & hurtful words to use, y'know?

 

the whole "should the teacher have said anything" - if i was a teacher...well, i think i'd err on the side of caution with the seventh graders because i've known a fair few who still believed at 11goingon12....but that's just how i would handle it.

 

(..and as it happens, i don't agree with the parent calling the school and throwing a fit. ;) )

[Tutor]

By 7th grade, children should know that there are people in the world who don't believe the same things that they do and to be able to politely receive others' opinions, consider them, and quietly agree or disagree. I think that parents of 7th graders should be able to encourage their children who are confronted with beliefs that contradict the child's beliefs and assist them in handling the receiving and processing of those contradictory opinions and working them (positively or negatively) into their own belief system in a mature and logical way without having to confront every instrument of contradiction personally.

 

I am actually more concerned with the mother's response than I am by the fact that the child chooses to continue to believe in Santa.

[athena1277]

When I was around 6th or 7th grade, i had a feeling it might not be real. However, my parents went to great lengths to keep us believing as long as possible. I didn't know 100% for sure till I snooped in their closet near Christmas one year and found wrapped gifts with tags from Santa. And no, i was not angry or traumatized by it. I missed the magic of it.

[Julie in CA]

"the teen years" - that's very different to me than kids of 10, 11, even turning 12...which is what you most often see in the seventh grade.

 

i was 11 - in grade seven - when i found out. my dd13 was 11.5 when she came and asked for the truth, as she was suspicious. my ds12 still believes, although this is, as i said before, a special needs situation...he will believe for years if we continue to play - and we likely will, as he's brand new to the 'magic'. :D

 

there were other posters who mentioned that their kids were of similar ages - and i've known many others with kids around 11 who still believed...relatives, friends' kids, etc. 11 seems to be a common year for it to get "figured out", in my experience.

 

to see those families being called things like "sick", "unhealthy" ,"ignorant" and accused of "manipulating" their kids, or that there is some sort of psychological problem with their kids/kids thinking abilities --- yeah that bothers me. those are pretty strong & hurtful words to use, y'know?

 

the whole "should the teacher have said anything" - if i was a teacher...well, i think i'd err on the side of caution with the seventh graders because i've known a fair few who still believed at 11goingon12....but that's just how i would handle it.

 

(..and as it happens, i don't agree with the parent calling the school and throwing a fit. ;) )

Possibly I wasn't clear in my phrasing. "Going into the teen years," for me, means 11-12 yo.--the year or two before becoming a teenager. The families posting here about believing at that age were very few, though I can understand the pull to keep them young. Please don't be hurt by the comments about critical thinking. :grouphug: It's fine to have some variation for your family, and to delay those skills until later on. What a blessing, that you have been able to decide for yourself & your kids to enjoy it a bit longer!

[Gwenhwyfar]

I missed the magic of it.

 

i still do ~ i remember that awesome excited feeling, laying in bed christmas eve TRYING to fall asleep...counting sheep, singing in my head, trying to create a dream, anything just to GET TO SLEEP so morning would come :laugh:

 

...waking my brother at 5am so he would come and peek with me - somehow we thought it was sneakier to slide down to the landing on our stomachs :p ... eyes wide and wondering how.in.the.world we were gonna make it to 7am when we were allowed to run down and get those overstuffed stockings we could see laying across the back of the couch. trying to guess what that almost-creepy weird shadow shape was behind the tree (turned out to be a GT with a huge bow on it - the very same GT that my brother would crash later that winter, flying off a jump and landing on his face; he still has the scar where his teeth went through his lip) and wondering if we'd be allowed to have christmas cookies for breakfast instead of the detested (but common in winter) cream of wheat wallpaper goop.

 

[we always got the cookies]

[Miss Sherry]

I loved Christmas as a child. I have a ton of great memories. But I did not grow up believing in Santa.

My children also love Christmas. It's a lot of fun and we have a LOT of good memories of Christmas. I did not teach my children that Santa is real. We did read about him in story books but they knew from the start it was make believe.

My children were not deprived of fun and joy at all at Christmas time. They all look forward to Christmas, even the ones who have moved out and live on their own now.

 

Christmas is my favorite holiday.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

My goddaughter is 12 and in 6th grade and is very bright. She has no special needs. She still believes in Santa. I was 10 and in 4th grade when I figured it out.

[Mrs Mungo]

Well, I don't think it should come as a surprise to the parents of a seventh grader that Santa be spoken of as a myth by some people.