When do kids stop believing in santa claus

Which is, while I think it's understandable for 8- and even 9-year-olds to still believe in Santa Claus, still doing so at 10 is just a little too old. At 10, children become tweens. Ten-year-olds are getting ready for things like junior high, school dances, braces, and listening to embarrassingly bad music at an unhealthy volume. And to me, that means they probably shouldn't still believe in a large man and his magical elves that bring gifts from a place called the North Pole once a year.

Children, for the most part, believe what they're told, but at 10, they should be developing keen inquiry skills. Being able to question the world around them is necessary in school and in life.

It's what creates divergent thinkers and problem solvers and helps them develop a keen sense of self. Which is why I think that believing in Santa at an older age demonstrates less about retaining childhood purity and more that they should be thinking about the world in a more inquisitive and considered way.

As a parent, I get the desire to slow down time. When your child stops believing in Santa, you have to start accepting that your child is growing up , and obviously that's hard. I know I'm not ready for my baby to grow up quite yet. But I do believe that continuing the Santa ruse at a certain point becomes less about the child and more about the parent's needs.

Others were disillusioned by finding store tags on their presents, or discovering that a visiting Santa was someone they knew dressed up in a suit. Others, Boyle found, got creative: they set up Santa traps around their house, posted secret letters to the North Pole, and even set about debunking the physics of the overnight gift-a-palooza. A few said their parents were forced to tell them the truth because the idea of Santa coming into their house freaked them out so much they couldn't sleep which is, probably, the most reasonable response.

So why do so many parents indulge in the Santa Charade? While 50 percent of respondents said they were fine with not believing in Santa, 34 percent said they wished they still believed.

In truth, cultures with a gift-giving Santa tradition have gotten off relatively easy. Jason Daley is a Madison, Wisconsin-based writer specializing in natural history, science, travel, and the environment.

Please keep comments to less than words. No abusive material or spam will be published. Convincing children to believe in a mythical white man who bestows gifts on those he deems worthy is brainwashing, be it Santa or Jesus. And that's why I did something revolutionary with my daughter, I told her the truth from the very beginning FrankWest December 24, AM.

The 'Spirit of Christmas' is very real, I feel it every year :. My five year old is enjoying that vibe today, though has already begun questioning the 'official narrative'. I'm so glad I had those 8 or 9 years of Santa in my life, and like most of us understood as I got older that it was more about the joy of being with family and friends than anything else.

Sterilise their lives if you must, but I won't. Motomunkey December 24, AM. Brian M December 24, AM. As a parent the main point of keeping them believing in Santa is to get them in bed early enough on Christmas Eve for you to wrap all the presents that you somehow failed to wrap earlier. As regards finding presents, it's easy enough to explain that Santa just brings one present.

Heck, I'm 70 and still believe in Santa Claus. He must exist. He keeps giving me gifts every year! I don't care what "they" say, giving kids high-minded, positive-life-image, supernatural-or-not stories is good for them and good for us. It's not good to teach only reality.

Mystery, wonder, creativity, and curiosity are excellent traits for kids to nurture while growing up. It opens their minds and gets them thinking on more than one level. Frank's family is enjoying wondrous family time, complete with magical stories of goodness and altruism.