When did your kids stop "believing" in Santa? Just want to know if I am being played!
I had my doubts 1-2nd grade. 3rd grade is when I got an adult to admit the hoax!
My 9-yr old is still playing along. My 7-yr old is totally buying into it. I told the older one..."If you believe, you will receive."
When I was starting to doubt (don't remember the age, 7-8 maybe), my parents set me up beautifully. They put us in the car, arranged to have the home phone ring (pre-cell phones) and then put all the toys out. Then went to G&G's for christmas eve. Stayed there later than usual that year. Got home and !! Santa already came!! Holy crap, did I start believing again, at least for a year or two.
Plus, my sister was 6 years younger than me, so my parents had to still get me a ton of good stuff for long after I stopped believing.
A fellow co-worker and I have collaborated on this one with his young one.
You can doubt ONE, but you must believe TWO!
Having the gifts appear while you are elsewhere is a ploy that worked for my daughter until she was about 10. "I'm not sure there is a Santa Claus, but when we go to Christmas eve mass, the presents are waiting when we get home. So I guess I believe." Now, she is 13 and really enjoying revving up my 2 year old.
That sounds similar to our M.O. We are always out of town at one of the Grandma's houses for Christmas. It is uncanny how every year, as we are ready to leave, I realize the van needs gas and my wife has a couple of things she still needs to pack. So, the kids go with me to get gas, and my wife is ready and waiting to hop in the van and leave as soon as we get back.
It has worked for 10 years so far!
I figured it out when I was in second grade so age 7 or 8
I have three boys...18, 16 and 11.
For the tooth fairy, the 11 year old just comes out with a tooth and I give him a buck. I really dont even check if it is his tooth anymore.
Just the other day, my just turned 8 year old lost a tooth but didn't tell us. He put it under his pillow to 'test' if there really was tooth fairy or if it was just Mom and Dad. By dumb luck while putting him to bed I found out about it, or the jig would have been up. He obviously had doubts about that, but beyond the 'how does he do it all in one night' questions,has expressed no concerns about the existence of Santa. Nor my 9 year old. I would suggest the reason for that is pretty simple...Santa brings piles of stuff. The tooth fairy brings a buck. Who wouldn't want to believe in Santa?
Anyway 2nd and 3rd grade, and they are still going strong, although based on the tooth fairy incident, we assume this will be the last year.
We used "those who don't believe, don't receive" for a while when they started asking questions...it seemed to slow down the frequency. There was a fairly large number of Jewish kids in my son's class who ultimately debunked the myth.
Quote from: MUEng92 on December 07, 2008, 09:48:05 AM
When did your kids stop "believing" in Santa? Just want to know if I am being played!
My son is in 4th grade and daughter in 1st. As of right now, both are still believing (though he has his doubts).
My wife and I play the "those who don't believe don't receive" and it still works....so far.