How old were you when you stopped believing in Santa?
I do not think that I ever believed in the existence of Santa Claus. I can’t be 100% sure but I am pretty sure. For one – it helps not being in a Christian family and for two – unlike in some countries, mostly Western, it is not a big deal for families to have their kids believe in Santa Claus. I grew up in Kuwait – from birth till age 11 – and since then in India and my family is Hindu (even though I am an atheist, it was from the age of 13 that I started questioning and stopped believing in a deity).

Here is a question for you guys – is kids believing in Santa Claus (as a real person/entity, who lives in the north pole or near the north pole and goes to every house during Christmas eve and gives gifts to kids who are good on his list) such a big thing in North America and the UK? I have seen so many comments, mainly from mothers, who say that “I am not ready for my kids to not believe in Santa yet/know that Santa is not real yet”. To me it seems that it is a bigger deal for the parents rather than the kids. I dunno, since it is not even a question in countries like India. He is known as just another as just another mythical figure and I don’t even see Christians in India making such a big deal about Santa.

Probably because Indians don’t really give gifts for Christmas and it’s considered more of a family gathering, praying and big dinner time. We dress up like Santa (I’ve done it once), wear the hat, walk around and hand out sweets or chocolates. In colleges and offices they now have competitions of silly carol singing, dressing up as Santa and take a lot of photos. In some areas, usually towns and villages, people dress up as Santa and go house to house and get money from the home owners for whatever it is that they do. That’s usually about Rs.50 to Rs.100.

Prompt from 31 December Writing Prompts at Mama Kat’s Losing It