When Did You Stop Believing?

Non-Phish General
#1

My daughter has been bugging me because she’s upset that her 8 year old son is questioning the myth. I guess she wants her sonny boy to still be her ‘baby’. I’m kind of proud that he’s smart enough to figure it out.

So how about it, do you remember when and how you stopped believing? It ended for me around 7 when I stayed up trying to catch ole Saint Nick, and found Al and Connie fast at work placing things around the tree. I don’t remember being all that upset because they put the Lionel train set I wanted under the tree, and that’s pretty much all I cared about. A materialist at 7, holy shit.

#2

I was probably either 9 or 10.

I’d build a fort out of a bunch of pillows and blankets with my 2 sisters and we’d see how late we could stay up. That’d usually barely past midnight…even though we were overcome with excitement.

One year I got up to see if the presents were there. Sure enough, they were. I looked at the note we left for Santa and he replied back…he even left a time he was there - something like 2:30am! I looked at the clock, and it was about 1:45am.

I think before letting the cat out of the bag my dad tried to explain the concept of time zones. Which didn’t work.

#3

I think I was in second grade so wouldn’t that make me around 8? I remember playing it cool when my mom told me. Like I had suspected it all along…“Yeah, I thought it was kinda stupid that a man could visit all the houses in the world in one night”. Truth was, I had absolutely no idea and was crushed on the inside. I think I’ve hated xmas ever since. Even now, to this day, I’m such a humbug. I haven’t put up a tree in 2 or 3 years. I HATE xmas songs with the passion and think anybody who puts out a xmas album should be tarred and feathered…then de-feathered. I do like the lights, but I get sick of seeing those damn blow up decorations in everyone’s front yard. It lmakes the world look like a giant trailer park…frankly, I’d rather see plastic flamingo’s and hubcaps rather than a blow up Frosty the Snowman or Santa. I think it has alot to do with my shakey relationship with my mother. I just don’t like being forced to spend time with a family that I have nothing in common with. At least the Santa thing gave me something to look forward to, lol.

#4

It’s like you’re the offspring of The Grinch and Debbie Downer all rolled into one!

#5

^Yes I can always be counted on to be the lone source of positivity :slight_smile:

#6

I have no idea of the actual age… But I would guess between 6-10.

It was about the time I asked the question… How come Santa has the same hand-writing as Mom?

#7

stopped believing in santa claus? is this some kind of sick joke?

#8

:frowning:

Your all getting coal in your stockings.

#9

24…why’d you have to ruin this for me Bill?

Just kidding of course, I think I was 7 or 8.

#10

I was around 9 years old, but I’m not sure exactly. Anyway, a bunch of kids my sister and I knew kept telling us that Santa wasn’t real, that they saw their parents, etc. Our parents sat us down and told us Santa wasn’t real, and why they were giving us gifts because they love us, and so on. As a greedy young bastard, my first question was “do we still get gifts?!”

#11

There’s no Santa!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?

NOOOOOO!!!

#12

:-X you…you…you dont like…christmas songs?

::dies::

#13

'bout 5 or 6 when the bomb dropped.

#14

Being Jewish i spent most holidays in gradeschool going around to whichever fool still believed in Santa and dispelling the myth. Most went crying home to mommy in hopes of my info being bunk.

#15

That’s odd.

Being Christian I spent most holidays in grade school blaming Jewish kids for the death of Jesus Christ.

#16

hahaha

#17

I think I began to figure it out eventually, but I still wanted to believe it Santa because it would take the fun out of Christmas. Sure enough when I was actually told the truth and I couldn’t pretend anymore Christmas was no longer fun. Ever since Christmas has been kind of al let down. But when my siblings moved away and we started to invite our good family friends over for Christmas Eve Dinner and enjoy the meal of 7 phishes and go to Arthur avenue in the Bronx to get fresh fish and food. And we would get drunk on wine, eat delicious food including pastries for desert and the whole family was together again Christmas started to take meaning again. And I started to have fun with the different presents I would find for my family and I would get excited to give it to them. Now its more of a family and friends holiday where we all eat drink and be merry. And of course Santa still makes an apperance (random stuff my mom finds for us!)

I love this thread by the way… keep it comin…

#18

So I should take back this “A Very Anastasio Christmas” album that I bought you?

#19

Does anybody else see this thread and hear Journey in their head?

Doooon’t stop, belieeeevin’

I swear, I have Musical Terets

#20

No sooner than I had posed the question as the topic, the song popped into my head.

That shit happens all the time. I’ll be in a meeting listening to some of the most gawdawful boring words, and then someone will string a group of words from a song or a song title, and it’ll be in my head for hours. Of course, Marie hates it when she’s the one who speaks the words and I start singing to her in the middle of our conversation. I can show you all the black and blue marks from those incidents.