"Is Santa Real?" What to Say?

I actually never 'fessed' up to this. When my girls asked, I told them that as long as they believed in the magic of Santa, he would always exist.

And every year Santa leaves presents for them.

My mother told me that Santa is the spirit of giving. I still believe that. Santa may just be an idea, but he is present in Christmas every year, bringing joy to children, and even to adults.

As long as we believe of course Santa is real..

When our daughter finally asked, I asked her "What do you think about Santa".. She told me she thought we were Santa and I told her, yes in a physical way we carry on the "Santa tradition". As long as we each agree to "believe" Santa will continue to visit.. She is 20 and now Santa seems to come in many different handwriting styles at our home.. ..

Yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus! http://www.newseum.org/yesvirginia/

This was the perfect way to address this with my son. He obviously knows but it also helped us show him that we weren't lying to him about Santa either. Some of the words were hard for him to understand and we sat down and talked about the true meaning behind them that the magic of Santa is what makes him real. The joy, the F. that people who believe have, and the way that people are just a little nicer around this time of year, more giving and thoughtful are all the things that make Santa real. He has never flat out told us he doesn’t believe and I certainly hope he never gets to a point where he gives up on the idea behind him at least. I wish you luck with this one it’s hard to watch that innocence slide away as they think they are growing up and I hope that you are able to preserve at least some of it.

This is what I told my children...Santa embodies the spirit of Christmas, so, although he is not a real person, what he stands for and symbolizes is very real indeed. And it is our job, as grown-ups, to carry on this tradition as Santa's helpers because that is what the Christmas season is all about: loving and giving to others.

.

i first asked do you like believing.. because my 12 yr. old knows their isn't a santa but loves to make believe... because it's fun... i then say it's fun to believe like at disney with mickey and minnie... i also told my kids don't ruin it for others .. that they have to pretend for other kids..

I did the same as Carol. I told my kids that if they believe in it it is there. it is the same for the tooth fairy or anything really. When this comes up, as Carol said, I tell them it is what they want it to be and if they believe, they will enjoy and understand what Christmas is really about. I take it one step further and tell them if it is in their heart, then it is real.

My Daughter's 1st Grade Teacher, told her kids, when they asked that "Well, Santa is real at my house.... "

Or, "When a child gets older, the Parents helps Santa give them gifts... because he is so busy.... but since we love Santa, we help him.

all the best,
Susan

I think it's very important to be honest with her. I resented my mother for making me seem naive, like I didn't get it. I was 6 when I fessed up that I knew it wasn't real. I believe honesty is the best policy with all, so will not assume my kids are less intelligent and buy into a lie. I think it just confuses kids and makes them unsure of what to trust from you.

At my house we go with "Santa is real as long as you believe"!

It seems to work.

~I think if when the time comes and your kids ask the question, they pretty much have stopped believing and figured it out...but in sticking with the above response I am able to leave everyone an "out" and the magic of Christmas gets to continue a little.

I figured out Santa wasn't real when I was 7 and my left-handed father and his slanted hand-handwritting left us the note on our gift and I told my sister and even though she was 9 she was still very upset!?

So glad to see this thread! Great answers! I have been struggling with this, older kids in our neighborhood may have leaked the Santa secret to my 7 year old, and I've been wondering how to handle it! Thanks!

It depends on her temperment... will she be devestated? My niece and nephew (9 & 11) have been sort of denying their belief for a couple of years, but they aren't upset about it, we still have toddlers and babies in the family, so this year when my nephew said "I know the truth about Santa" I responded with "Well, I hope that "truth" doesn't decrease your presents this year (with a wink)" He smirked and then asked if he could write his letter to Santa.
If she is asking directly, but you want to keep it going, I think she is old enough to understand. I would just say that magical things are as real as you make them. That only moms and dads are aloud to know all the secrets of present acquisition. Most kids will apprecaite you not "lying" but won't become instant synics of Christmas by beign told "Santa's not real"

When my oldest asked about santa I pulled her aside and asked what she thought. She said she thought santa wasn't real and I agreed that no he wasn't. Then I went on to tell her that it was fun thinking there was a santa. I reminded her how much fun she had thinking that santa was real. She agreed and we shared some stories about it.

Then I told her that her younger sisters and brother still believed and since they were still little they should have the fun of still believing. I told her that Christmas was a lot of work and maybe she could be a helper elf by assisting me. Of course it would be a secret that she couldn't tell anyone else. She agreed and didn't say a word for years about it.

When her next sibling didn't believe she also became a helper elf. It was a wonderful way of transitioning from believing to not without any trauma. Now my oldest grandson doesn't believe and he's a helper elf to his mom since his younger siblings still believe.

I have asked my son "do you believe Santa is real?" and went with that.

I would say you could wait and let her ask again. If she asks in front of others, try to get her alone (asap) and tell her whatever you plan to tell her.

We have said that the real Santa is busy at the North Pole getting all of the presents ready, so they have to have people dress up for the other ones before Christmas Eve.

With my kids I always did what my mom did.... We were told that because times (money wise) are hard. That when we made our lists we needed to make sure things were not extremely expensive. We needed to remember that because the times are hard that mom and dad had to give Santa some money to help out. As there are many kids who will not have Christmas at all due to their parents not having any money or kids without parents. Making it all easier on Santa to provide for everyone. Which definitely made it easier at Christmas when someone did not get one of those expensive gifts. The kids are not as disappointed and parents are not depressed about being able to provide their kids wants.... Occasionally when money was available we were surprised with one of those gifts we wanted but were not expecting due to price.... We were always told that Santa must have had a better year. LOL

I know the above was not part of your question but I thought it might help others.

As for your Santa question should it come up again. When my kids would come up and say is Santa real? We would tell them what do you think? If they said they thought he was real... we would then tell them that if they believe he is then he is and not to let others tell them different. If they say they think he is unreal... we would tell them that it is true... Santa is starting to get so old he needs the parents help more and more. So we are helping him out.... Although, now you have to help him too.... by not telling your brothers/sisters that you do not believe anymore. They need to be able to enjoy believing in Santa like you have for many years. They need to be able to find out just like you did but they are not ready yet.

My 11 yr old still believes because my older 3 are doing just that.... giving him the chance to believe and then figure it out on his own.

If other kids are around, you say, "of course he's real!"

If there are no other kids around, say, "what do you think?" Then go from there.