About:Santa claus (write your 1st memories here please)

Im interested to read what is your very first memories of the Santa Claus.
And when or if, WHY did you stop believing in him.

The Santa was called different in the Country i was born in.

My 1st memory is a head of Santa (plastic one obviously) hanging on the wall.
And in my memory i havent saw him from some perspective, its like im floating around it slowly.
I dont know if someone told me that he doesnt really exists, i guess i got that from TV series/movies.

Why have i posted this in Paranormal Studies ? well this post only has maybe nothing to do with paranormal.
i will try to post some more question which will lead to paranormal. the thoughts are forming in my head but arent
so easy to write them down.

reply to post by Hombre


First memory, my sister and I, ages 5 and 4 were staring up into the sky on Christmas Eve....saw an airplane and thought it was Santa. We ran to tell Mom and Dad got upset. He told us that he worked too hard and paid too much cash for all those presents only to let a fat man in a suit that doesn't exist take the credit.

First and last memory of Santa.

reply to post by Hombre


I was 2.5 years old the first time I saw Santa.
My mother and older sisters were there with me in the living room when there was a knock on the door. My mother went and opened it. A big man in a red suit and a bag slung over his back walked in, and I freaked out!
I was standing in an area all by myself, and I was so terrified to move, I didn't know what to do!

"Santa" came toward me offering me a toy, and I took off running to my mother screaming in terror!

Of course, this was my Dad dressed up as Santa, but I didn't know that. He got so tickled at me, he burst out laughing trying to make it sound like, "Ho, Ho, Ho" as he laughed.

I was crying and wouldn't calm down, so he finally had to leave.

I remember the little red fox he tried to give me. I went and picked it up after he left and it became one of my favorite toys.

That was around 54 years ago, and I remember it like it was yesterday.

I don't know when I realized there wasn't a Santa, but I'm sure I was relieved to learn he didn't exist after my frightening experience.

Santa had to have a bottle of beer left out for him. A long neck. At about seven years of age after Xmas lunch there I am pen, paper doing math. I was asking a lot of questions and looking up the South Australian Almanac. Calculators had not been invented yet BTW.

My Foster Father came inside and watched for a few minutes. Then he sat next to me and watched some more.

I forget the figures now, but I had divided the number of households in my State by 12 to find out how many dozen long necks Santa consumed in a night. It was an awesome number.

I looked at my foster family and in a very serious and solemn voice said, "I think Santa has a drinking problem. He might even be an alcoholic! My foster father tried not to laugh, he made a heroes attempt but he failed.

P

reply to post by sled735


I can't remember my first memory of Santa, but I'll tell my daughter's story, which is somewhat like yours.

When my daughter was around 3, on Christmas eve I was putting her to bed and I told her, "Just think -- tonight, while you're sleeping, Santa will be here, putting your presents under the tree!" She gave me a scared look and said, "Mommy, Santa's not going to come to my room, is he?" I assured her he was way too busy for that. He only had time to drop off the presents and eat a cookie we left for him, then he'll rush out to the next house. She loved Santa, but didn't want to get up close and personal with him!

Very first memory: I remember that I definitely did NOT want to sit on the lap of the creepy guy with the fake beard at the mall. (Good instincts, right? Haha!)

But when I was three, an older friend told me there was no Santa and I cried. So I don't really remember ever believing in him, but I must have or I wouldn't have cried... unless I was just crying because that older "friend" was just being a dick.

So, since I was so young when the truth was disclosed to me, I don't remember ever believing in him. I remember playing along with the Santa fantasy to make my mom happy. I remember when I was 5 or so, I wrote a letter to Santa on Christmas eve and leave out cookies -- and I remember hoping that I was fooling my mom into thinking that I believed in him when I didn't.

So my memories of Santa are mostly just trying to keep my mom happy and wanting her to think I believed in something that I didn't. The memories are actually a lot sweeter and less jaded than what they sound as I type this out. My mom loved (and still does) Christmas, especially the more secular/commercial aspects of celebrating the holiday.


ETA:
My four-year-old told me that Santa wasn't real this year... his reasoning? "There is no way that Santa could fit into a chimney." Despite this, he still had fun writing a letter to Santa on Christmas eve and enjoyed his stocking of presents from Santa on Christmas morning. So... maybe history is repeating itself.

Originally posted by VegHead

ETA:
My four-year-old told me that Santa wasn't real this year... his reasoning? "There is no way that Santa could fit into a chimney." Despite this, he still had fun writing a letter to Santa on Christmas eve and enjoyed his stocking of presents from Santa on Christmas morning. So... maybe history is repeating itself.

My daughter started questioning the reality of Santa Claus at four. Her reasoning? Those presents that were supposed to have been made by elves in Santa's workshop all have "made in China" on the bottom of them!

Santa clause is real and here is why i believe this.
1. More people know of Santa Clause than me and i am real to me.
2. As a result of the idea of Santa billions of people receive gifts each year on a target date. I don't get birthday presents but i get Xmas presents.
3. As a result of Santa at a fixed point each year there is a tremendous amount of joy and sharing each year. I get drunk on a given night to experience the joy of not thinking about work.
4. I once got a present addressed from Santa Clause to this date i could never prove without a doubt it wasn't lol

Anyway my fist memory was being told he is not real. I know that sounds weird but that is what stuck with me as the first one i think about. My brother thought he was saving me from being teased at school but really all he did was make me a skeptic at age four lol.

I found out on my own

My brother and I would always "snoop" through the closets before Christmas to find our gifts. My parents were pretty smart about hiding the Santa gifts and stocking stuffers though. That probably helped reinforce our belief in Santa's existence. But, in the 6th grade, when I saw my gameboy in my stocking... My heart just sunk. Finding out Santa wasn't real upset me so badly. I couldn't even get excited to open the rest of my presents. I also never snooped for my presents after that.

I figured it out in first grade when we were playing secret Santa and drawing names to get another person in class a present.

I went home and yelled, "We're Santa!"

My mom grinned and laughed and said yes, but how does that change the spirit of giving? The idea behind giving to others in a time a celebration or maybe need?"

I thought about it for awhile and asked, "So what your saying is - we make Santa real".

"You've got it Sissy". My mother said.

No trauma - just a evolution in idea.

Cirque

Originally posted by sled735
reply to post by Hombre

 

I was 2.5 years old the first time I saw Santa.
My mother and older sisters were there with me in the living room when there was a knock on the door. My mother went and opened it. A big man in a red suit and a bag slung over his back walked in, and I freaked out!
I was standing in an area all by myself, and I was so terrified to move, I didn't know what to do!

"Santa" came toward me offering me a toy, and I took off running to my mother screaming in terror!

Of course, this was my Dad dressed up as Santa, but I didn't know that. He got so tickled at me, he burst out laughing trying to make it sound like, "Ho, Ho, Ho" as he laughed.

I was crying and wouldn't calm down, so he finally had to leave.

I remember the little red fox he tried to give me. I went and picked it up after he left and it became one of my favorite toys.

That was around 54 years ago, and I remember it like it was yesterday.

I don't know when I realized there wasn't a Santa, but I'm sure I was relieved to learn he didn't exist after my frightening experience.

edit on 5/4/2013 by sled735 because: add comment

I had no idea this happened!

For those of you who might not know, Sled is related to me. I LOVE hearing old family stories like this. What a wonderful surprise!

i snuck out of my room and hid in the closet when i was 5 or 6 and saw my mom putting present under the tree. when i got back to school after holidays i told the other kids and got yelled at by my teacher.

My first memory was when I was five years old. I remember finding out Santa was going to be visiting us at Sunday school. When that particular Sunday rolled around, I couldn't find my shoes. I frantically searched everywhere, but somehow they just magically disappeared! I still remember throwing everyone's shoes around and then crying in the closet because I wasn't going to get to see Santa. The bus came and my three-year-old sister got to go without me. When she came back she told me Santa gave everyone candy.

The belief in Santa didn't last very long though. On Christmas Day, my sister told me Santa wasn't real. She said she pretended to fall asleep on the couch the night before, but really she had her eyes slightly open and saw my parents and aunt & uncle decorating and wrapping presents and putting them under the tree.

reply to post by smyleegrl


I'm glad you liked it.

What was your first experience with Santa?


OP, when are you going to tell us what this has to do with the paranormal?

I was always a curious kid even at 5 years old
when I started to understand the purpose of santa,.
I realized then my parents were the purchasers of the gifts.

Santa is just a manipulative tool by companies to sell product, and
the beginning stage of teaching children to lie and that it is ok.

I believed in Santa but I had a horrific experience upon discovering he wasn't real

I was in third grade. The freakin teacher told the whole class that Santa wasn't real.

I panicked. I ran home at lunch time to talk to my mom.

That didn't go so good cuz my younger sister was there, and I am not going to go into it.

But is was very traumatic.

reply to post by skepticconwatcher

That is really sad.

You are gonna think I am crazy but my youngest believed in Santa until he was 11. Pinky swear.

That is horrible to deprive a kid of magical thinking.

reply to post by pheonix358


Aw, what a cute story.

Santa could have seriously got a SUI. LOL

reply to post by PineappleXpress

oh, that sucks.

Poor kid

My first memory of Santa is just laying in bed as a child,in the dark,being glad+excited that i'm going to get new stuff.Then one year,my mother's sister-in-law actually dressed up as Santa.I remember being on the floor in the hallway,and screaming for my mother,as she came towards me,it scared the bejeezus outa me:-D I did'nt know it was Aunty E of course.I don't recall how/when i realised it was a fantasy,just one year i remember feeling grateful to my mother for the nice things,instead of Santa.She was a very abusive mother,but she always made an effort at Xmas,so for me,it meant a lot more that She got me the nice things,instead of some weirdo in a stupid suit.