How old were you when you realised Santa didn't exist?

Hi CoffeeShot,I was only 7 when I found out Santa was really my Mum.
My youngest sister was a new born baby, and my Dad was very ill.
The local doctor had to come to house and with a new baby crying and my dad sick, everyone was up.
Mum couldn't wait any longer to put the presents under the tree, as she had to go to the hospital with Dad.
But even though we knew there was no Santa from that night on, we all still waited with anticipation every year to see what he bought us ever year.

We were raised on fairy tales, all of which had a particular moral, and we knew very early on the Santa was a fictional character that was as real as we made him and that the values he portrayed were the magic in him, so we never had that bump or hump that some children have to get over.

Only after having been an adult for quite some did did I realize that some people still don't get that. My husband's family, for example, had no exposure as children to fairy tales. As a result, he isn't as interested in symbolic things as I am, and is generally more of a pessimist.

For me, then, the magic never went away. That is probably why I get pretty annoyed when people want to update Santa's image.

Oh! This is just Great, coffeeshot! Thanks for ruining my Christmas and shattering all of my dreams!!!! Santa Clause is not REAL?!? I...I just can't believe this.:(

Santa doesn't exist?
How do you know?Santa is a spirit, if you will, and he exists if you believe. Maybe he doesn't really come down your chimney and leave you presents and gifts you've always wanted, but that doesn't mean he doesn't exist.
It's really sad how quick people are to stop believing in things and take life far too seriously.

It actually happened twice. When I was probably 6 or 7, I started questioning all the logical stuff and was on the verge of declaring Santa a fraud. My parents thought it was too soon and actually had a friend come over all dressed up, while I stayed up all night to wait on a Santa I didn't think existed. Low and behold, he did....I can still remember that night with crystal clear memory. He was the spitting image of all things Santa from appearance to his laugh to the way his eyes twinkled when I opened a present with him. It was a magical night, to say the least, and reinforced my belief for many years.

In fact, so long that my parents actually sat me down later on to tell me he wasn't real and what happened that night. Still yet, it's that image that has kept the Christmas spirit alive for me and I do whatever I can to keep young kids believing and loving it. Heck, at times I think there is still a Santa....odd things occur that can only be explained by a Santa Claus. <3

I was about 4 or 5 when I saw my dad out of the bedroom window remove a brand new bike from the trunk of his car and put it in the next door neighbor's garage.

After Christmas morning I told my mom about what I had witnessed 2 days before and she said Santa just delivered it to your dad because he couldn't make the trip that year. Mrs. Clause was sick and he had to take care of her. I recall hearing a faint yelp of 'OWWWWWA' from my dad after mom shoved him in their bedroom because she had to "tell him something."

My Mother was a genious to think of that story right on the spot! Until I left my home for college when I was 19 she would still try to convince me Santa existed.

When i grew up we were never taught that there was a Santa.We knew from the very beginning that Santa did not exist..We knew about Santa and we knew he was a symbol of Christmas but we were taught mother and daddy was Santa.So if that is the innocence of being a child then i missed out because my mother always taught us that that was not true.I suppose that magic was not part of my childhood.I will never know what it feels like to believe in santa.

My fourth grade teacher told us as a class and said we were too old to still believe in him. I was crushed, as were some other kids. I still wonder if any parents complained. It was a bit cruel really.

I was 10 years old also - The way it happened with me was, when it was time to go to bed so that Santa could come, I never went to sleep. You see my Grandparents always woke me up after Santa had supposedly left. Anyway, I would pretend to be asleep, and I would hear noises. After my grandparents come into my room to wake me, I would dash down stairs to see my gifts, I noticed that the gifts that Santa brought me were wrapped in the same wrapping paper that my grandparents had. (Hmmm)....I had question them about it, along with other odd stuff that had happened. they said to me, OK you know that Santa won't come any more. and that was the end of it for me. LOL!

i used to cry a lot when i was a toddler and seeing the santa claus my mum told me i do cry and attimes i run away from the santa clause i think iwas able to get over that when i got to the age of 7 or something