Daddy, is Santa real?

[QuirkyCarla]

yesterday, on x-mas day, i am driving around with my oldest daughter.  she asks me, "Daddy, is Santa real?"

so i tell her, " MJ, it is ok to pretend that Santa is real, but since you asked me directly whether he is real or not, i cannot lie.  NO, Santa is made up fun for the kids.  Mommy and I are the ones who give you all the presents from Santa."

am i a grinch?
what would the rest of you do in a situation like this?

Isn't your daughter like 8 or 9? Most kids know by then. However, I think it might be more tricky for kids who are on the spectrum. I know I was pretty mad that I was lied to (that's one thing I REALLY can't stand) and that the magic had been ruined. You're definitely not a Grinch though. Your daughter had to learn sometime, and it's better you were honest and direct with her rather than her finding out by accident.

[McGiver]

so today i find out that she told my 7 year old that santa doesn't exist.
when i told my 9 year old the truth, i asked her explicitly not to mention it to her sister.  because each kid needs to find out for themselves and that she probably won't figure it out for another year or two.

boy is my wife pissed at me.

[QuirkyCarla]

lol, i did the same thing when I found out. My sister was 3! My mom was pissed at me and did damage control.

[purposefulinsanity]

You should have seen that one coming   

[odeon]

She had to know sooner or later.

[Lurk Hurk Gurk]

As far as I can remember, I have never believed in santa, the easter bunny, or the tooth fairy. I saw it all as a bunch of silly jokes from the very start.

[ozymandias]

so today i find out that she told my 7 year old that santa doesn't exist.
when i told my 9 year old the truth, i asked her explicitly not to mention it to her sister.  because each kid needs to find out for themselves and that she probably won't figure it out for another year or two.

boy is my wife pissed at me.

Tell your wife, I said to get over it!  That kind of "awesome" secret is way too much for a 9 y/o to keep to herself.  Besides, it would have slipped out of the wee ones mouth sooner or later.  Kids say the darnedest things and all that!

So how did your seven y/o react??

[Callaway]

I did the exact same thing as MJ when I found out the truth about Santa from my dad.  If it was the truth, then I thought it was the right thing to do to tell my brothers and all the other kids the truth.  My aunt did the damage control.  Here is what I told my daughter about Santa:

There really is a Santa Claus. Santa Claus is a symbol of generosity and love. When kids aren't mature enough to understand abstract concepts like this, then we have to make it concrete or give them a picture so they can understand it. Only when children are old enough are they told that Santa really isn't a man in a red suit, but a special way that people can be loving and generous without getting credit for it. But, it is a very special secret and only parents can decide when their child is ready to understand that Santa isn't a real man in a red suit, so it isn't fair for anyone but a parent to tell this special secret.

Then I reiterated to her the importance of keeping the secret and letting the parents decide when their own children are old enough to understand abstract concepts like Santa Claus just before we went to my brother's house to celebrate Christmas morning with his two young children.  I also asked him and his wife if their kids still believed, just in case she spilled the beans, but she did not as far as I know.

[DirtDawg]

Perfect.
I owe you a +, but I need to let my +maker cool off for a while, first.
Glad you're back.

[Scrapheap]

Perfect.
I owe you a +, but I need to let my +maker cool off for a while, first.
Glad you're back.

Dittos to that DirtDawg. Callaway, nice to have you back.

[Nomaken]

Santa, like god, is fun to believe in, is something I can neither prove nor disprove exists, and probably doesn't.