Santa - maybe. The rest no.

why not?

She will be 9 in May. I am worried that she will be 12 still thinking they are real... :0

Why would you start with those lies? Don't you want your child to appreciate that the gifts are from you, out of the kindness of your heart? Wouldn't you rather they be good out of respect for you rather than to not show up on a fictional character's naughty list? I'm not a fan of those fictional characters, particularly due to their origins.

If I had an 8 year old who still believed, I wouldn't worry. But I would gradually introduce the idea that some things that are fun to believe are just fantasies and gradually point out 'holes' on the stories that don't quite fit with reality as the child know it. It's good to get over believing in fantasies before your teens ot you will start to believe all the teenage fantasies, like, 'If I have sex with him, he'll love me, right?' and 'He cheated, but he says he's sorry, so that means he really is sorry, right?'

My father told me when I was 7 years old that Santa, the Easter bunny, and others were not real. He just couldn't resist the temptation to shatter everything that I believed in. Why tell me they exist at all if you're just going to tell me it was all a lie when I'm older. It's like telling a child that you're not their real parents -- that they were adopted.

I don't believe 8 years old is still appropriate to believe in Santa. I think at 8 years old they are mostly able to separate fantasy from reality.

If my children had not worked Santa out for themselves, I probably wouldn't have said anything, but I wouldn't have made a great fuss of it...but there I was with a precocious 3yo who worked it out for herself...and wanted the truth. I was not about to lie to her. I never have and never will.

I think that anyone should be able to believe what they want to believe. I don't care if you're 90 and you believe in Santa Claus. It's our beliefs that helps make us who we are. Hell, I'll even bring the Santa Suit.

My little sister is 13 and still believes. She is mentally handicapped to some degree though. My mom did do something I find questionable for a child of her age. She had one of her friends call my sister when she was bieng particularly ill-behaved. She had this guy pretend to be Santa and he told her to behave or she would get coal. I think that that may have hindered her being able to figure it out. Basically, my mom let us believe it until we got the jest of the story. When we were ready to figure it out, we did. I don't know how I will raise my kids. I'm not sure if the holiday "mascots" are really rooted in religion or if they're just for fun. I don't see the harm in letting them imagine that if they are good, they will be rewarded in a super special way. I was raised with the 'mascots' and I figured it out, I've never thought of it as anyone lying to me. I just thought of it as an incentive to behave. Basically, since she has been raised with them being there, I see no reason to shatter her imagination. She will figure it out eventually, but why make her grow up any faster than she has to? Eight is still very very young. I see no reason why not!

I think I did believe in these things as I was 8, maybe because I thought if I did not, I would not receive the presents anymore.

Its fine. He's going to figure it all out sooner or later. So why take the fun away now?

yes! they are still young children! they will stop believing when they are ready, but i dont think you should take the magic of christmas away, not to mention their innocence! they aren't children for long so cherish it while you can