Psychologists pinpoint average age children become Santa sceptics

When I was a kid and knew Santa's real identity, I still worked hard at not letting people diminish the fun to be had in that fantasy. Just like you'd probably not tell a kid "hah, that stick isn't really a gun!" or "That doll isn't really talking!"

I think it was while Christmas shopping that I figured it out. How could Santa be at all the malls, and why does he have a fake beard only sometimes? Why are his elves so tall? Where are the reindeer? We were told that those Santas and Elves were his helpers, and that was all that was needed for me to realize Santa had a helper at home, too.

I stayed out of arguing about it with friends who still believed, because they were having fun, and so was I. It was better to not ruin the enjoyment by spoiling it for the believers, or arguing about it with the non-believers. It was fun being part of the nudge-nudge wink-wink group that knew, but didn't tell.

But I distinctly remember wondering how some of my smarter friends could still believe, and chalked it up to them just going with the (fun) flow, like I was. And in many cases, that was probably correct.