I’m 66. I still believe in Santa. But a Santa that lives in the hearts of kind people. If you do tell him, then explain how he can be Santa for others. It’s stil magical,
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My son’s ate he found out early on when he started out of school he come home question us we told him and also explain to him that kids still believe in it and so that we don’t ruin it for others or his baby sister we pretend that it’s real for them so he acts as if it’s the true thing if you ask him he’ll tell you it’s true I would sit and talk to him if you feel it’s time and that he would get bullied for knowing
Or he knows and is pretending not to for y’all.
Why tell him? What do you gain by doing so? Hush 
He’s gonna figure it out eventually. He’s either gonna see you do it or someone at school will tell him I wouldn’t worry about it hjnestlyn
Just let him believe ehy tske it from him heceill eventually figure it out I’ve never seen an 18 year old talkin about Santa comin
As a kid I always knew my parents were all of the fairy tale creatures that gave me everything! I never really believed in any of it I just knew I was loved. Tell him the truth. He’s probably figured it out already but doesn’t want you to know that he knows. Mabie he’s afraid of hurting your feelings too. Speaking from personal experience but who knows.
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I would tell him. It’s better that it comes from you.
No. Don’t ruin the magic. Once ya know, you can’t un-know.
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Did he ask?
If he asked, it’s time.
We all hate letting go of the magic but …
Kids already know the truth if they go to school. They just play along to enjoy the benefits. Kids are extremely smart.
There is a Santa …he is the Spirit of Christmas Giving…that’s what I always told my kids WHEN they asked…don’t say anything to the kids until they ask when their older 
He should have been told long ago. If kids at school knew he still believed he would be teased.
No let him be a kid still
I told my older kids that everyone can be a santa. A santa is just someone who brings magic to someone else. So each year they pick out one person that needs something. They have to notice what that person needs… a coat, gloves, a backpack, or something that is a need. They cannot tell anyone about what they are doing. They pick out the gift, wrap it and we drop it off. They get to be santa. We start doing that whenever they were around that age. When I first told my oldest about this she said "ok so you are my santa but there is a santa for everyone? " so in a way they still believe in the magic of Christmas. We never talked about the Easter bunny or tooth fairy but I have 5 kids and the older ones still go along with all of it
We are struggling with this ourselves we have two much smaller ones as well last year she just about figured it out and I was very upset mostly because she was dead dry on telling her brothers it was real as well 
so mom and dad went way over the top had our daughter believing with out a dought and then then told her to tell her brothers so she did Santa is real after she reassured them we sat her down and told her semi the truth basically if you choose to believe in Santa or not that’s ok and it’s really just a fun thing we like to do to make Christmas magical for you guys but please let your brother have their chance to experience it as well she was Totally ok with it and we threw in some holiday adult privileges like decorating the tree help wrap present ect in to make her feel more special in her brothers time to still believe
And all this mom group I don’t know how I got on but there is a St Christopher Saint Nick look it up and you can tell him this is Santa Claus he actually did good things of what we believe in I’m 43 and I still believe in Santa Claus
He probably doesn’t believe and is just going along with it for you.
He probably already knows!!! Kids think they will get more if you think they will believe.
My kids are 25, 21 and 19 and I still haven’t told them. I think they might be getting ready to tell me…
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I remember when my granddaughter was 10, she told me she didn’t believe in Santa. She asked me not to tell her dad cause, “he’s so cute with the Santa stuff”
I waited until my daughter asked and she was 11. Then I told her the truth but stressed to her about not ruining the magic for her brother who was 1 at the time
My daughter was 6 when she found out about all them 
This is a tough one. I tell my kids that Santa is the spirit of Christmas, and as Ling as you believe he will always be real. But my 10 year old wad doubting Santa last year and it made me feel so bad.
My 13 year old found out in school when she was 12. As long as she pretends for her siblings (my toddler just turned 4, and I’m due in December) then she gets Santa gifts.
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The bigs don’t believe but I explained to them “you don’t believe, you don’t recieve” they have 2 smaller siblings the 9 year old is on the fence (the 3 oldest are my bonus babes and the youngest is mine. She’s 4) I tell them all we keep the magic going no matter what other say, once the magic is gone so is the spirit and that’s just unacceptable.
never started that bs to begin with……
i work too hard for let some make believe take credit for me busting my ssa all year.
He knows.He pretends for you.
He’s 11. I bet he is aware. I “believed” but always knew. No one ever told me.
Don’t be a grinch and ruin it for him
I’ve never directly told my kids santa was real (or fake). I let them believe whatever they want. Anytime they’ve asked I’ve just asked them what they think. I have a 5th grader and idt she believes anymore but she still plays into the magic. Once kids can see the amazon account they basically know lol.
My kids has always known that Santa Easter bunny the toothfairy is make Believe ,they know very well where they got their Presents from
I agree with your fiance. We have told ours the truth from the beginning and their absolute favorite holidays are still Christmas and Easter. Kids can be cruel and at 11, seems old enough to know the truth from your parents. To keep the magic going though, you could always involve him in Christmas shenanigans (for example, if you have elf on the shelf, let him help move him or come up with ideas on where he should be moved next). It might also help him understand why parents do this for the younger children.
You have 12 times roughly to play Santa don’t take it away from him. Apologize when he figures it out himself that he’s not real that you tricked him out of love.
I let it ride out with my oldest until a kid at school told him, he wasn’t upset and came home and told me that he knew the truth. Shockingly; he believed in the tooth fairy the longest. lolol He was around 11 or so when he found out.
Never tell a child there is no Santa …
Wait until he starts asking questions. There is your sign that he is doubting and he knows something.
I pretended believing in Santa long time before my Mom knew I didn’t.
It really gets me that alot of parents are basing their choices for their child on what other people think.
I still believe I’m 33:sweat_smile:
At 11 he most likely already knows. Most kids either figure it out on their own, or other kids tell them. He’s waiting for you to come clean. I remember figuring it out at the age of 7. Too much about the myth didn’t make sense to me. When I asked my mother she explained the truth. I was hurt, disappointed, and still, to this day resent being lied to.
No !!! Don’t tell him. My kids are in their 30’s and still say: if you don’t believe, you don’t receive. They still get stockings filled & Santa gifts.
For us, once they turned 10, Santa wrote them a letter with their last gift explaining that now they are at the age where it’s up to them to continue on the Christmas giving and that it was their job going forward to provide Christmas spirit and that Santa will always be watching but he needs to focus on the small children as there are sooo many little boys and girls!
I never told my kids, one day they just kinda figured it out… my youngest (now 9) said at age 5 “mommy I know u buy all da presents”
… i tried to reassure her but she wasn’t buying it
When my kids asked if Santa was real, I asked them “what do you think”. That a sufficient answer for all 4 of my children.
I’d let him enjoy it. Some kid at school ruined Santa the Easter Bunny and the tooth fairy for my 7 year old
I wouldn’t let him believe
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My teens told me they pretended to not know the truth so they can still get tons of gifts and money etc. kids in school told them the truth in kindergarten! They know. Lol
I already knew pretty young. However you can always say that he did exist at one point in time (which is the truth) however parents have always carried on his tradition of giving presents to their children. However I would say not to tell his siblings since they are too young and allow them to keep the magic a bit longer. How I found out was my parents hand writing on the presents. I wasn’t distraught, I think I was about 7 or 8 when I found out. I never told my parents or my brother/sister. When my parents told me a few years later I was like yeah I knew and we laughed and moved on. However when they told my sister she acted like the world ended. Lol but she moved on. My parents still to this day write from Santa on our presents. My sister is 21, I’m 28 and my brother is 32 years old lol. At this point it’s just to keep the Christmas spirit alive 
My son stopped believing in all that when he was about that age, and I told him that even though he understands it’s not real, that he has to pretend that it is because I also have a 4 year old and a 6 month old
My son was 10 and in grade 5 when he asked me to tell him the honest truth if Santa was really real or not. I wanted him to still believe so told him that yes he was real. I felt really guilty right after for lying because he had asked for the truth. I thought about the fact he was older than I was when I found out and likely had heard things at school. I told him the truth the next day. I told him that the spirit of santa was real but yes its parents who give the presents. I asked him if he was disappointed to know the truth. He said that he was happy to know. He said he wasn’t upset and that it made him appreciate us even more knowing all those presents were from us all along. He did however want to make sure this doesn’t mean the presents stop. Lol. He also assured me that he wouldn’t tell his younger brother and he likes feeling that he knows something his little brother doesn’t. He also told me that yes, kids had been saying at school that your parents are santa. I think at age 10 to 11 if they don’t already know, they are very suspicious. At this age I think it’s up to you if you want to tell them or not, but I do think it’s best to tell them if they start asking.
No do not tell him let him believe
Do not. Let the poor boy have what’s left of his childhood…
almost evil to tell him at that age.
In my opinion.
My sister was 12 when her teacher told her, in front of the whole class, bc she said she was just too old to be believing in Santa 
It crushed her and I will never forget how hard she cried that day. I’m in my 30s and this happened when I was 14ish… It was awful.
Personally after witnessing this early on, I had decided that if My kids did believe Until older that I would be the one to tell them, if only bc we just can’t control how nasty the world around them is💔
I think the suggestions on telling him the magic of Xmas and Santa is in the giving, and now he’s getting older so it’s his time to start to spread that love.
Unfortunately at his age, if he talks openly about this this year, the kids around him are going to spoil it instead, maybe worse like my sisters story. So it coming from mom and dad in a loving and kind way would be better than that. But that’s just my opinion.
Include him more without the Littles in making the Christmas memories and diligently bring the knowledge forward. My son had a classmate break the magic. So I have turned the tables about how doing Christmas this year. $100 budget per child and $51 or more must be spent on someone else.
My kids are teens and I still tell them Santa is real and I don’t accept them saying otherwise haha don’t believe you don’t receive lol
My daughter x friend mother( drunk) told my daughter due to my daughter was telling her all her gifts she received and the x friend had received only socks. My daughter didn’t understand why Santa brought her so much and her friend socks, the mother opened her vodka and said cause Santa doesn’t exist and that all I could afford to get her. After that my daughter figured each thing out and like I told her if u believe he will come but if u don’t just watch and see
You shut your mouth… let him believe as long as you possibly can…how you made it 11years I do not know… but keep doing that… let him stay innocent… and the little sister too
When my kids are old enough I’m going to tell them the real story if Santa and how he was real but now it’s a tradition to continue the gifting in his name 
how I grew up with Santa how I want my kids to know him as the real Santa.
I hate that people make their kids believe in that shit. You have lied to your children and for what? All you’ve done is successfully lie to your child and then admit it causes trust issues. He’s 11. It’s long time past you came clean. This maybe an unpopular opinion, but it’s wrong to lie to your kids like that. As a kid that never believed in Santa, I was always the one telling the other kids at school the truth. I’m glad my parents didn’t lie to me like that. The disappointment isn’t worth it.