One of the things I notice is unusual about me is that I didn't grow up with anything Santa-related. My family celebrated the giving and receiving of gifts, but it was basic and none were ever labelled as being from Santa (if you gave me a gift right now and said it was from Santa, it would be my first gift "from Santa" I've ever received). It was all just from family member to family member, no outside labels attached.

Almost a decade has passed since then, and even though I'm otherwise very acquainted with my Santa-fantasizing culture, it still feels rather foreign to me to see Santa-related decor out every year, especially as early as October, and the first thing I know about the traditions revolving around crediting the figure we call Santa for gifts every year is that, in spite of the wide-reaching style of the appeal, those traditions are seen as very age-specific or age-emphasizing no matter the generation.

That makes me wonder what are the boundaries of the norm then, since the norm was not something I was accustomed to. Is there a set edge or limit, or what's the oldest you've seen someone expect a gift-giving Santa Clause to be their gift giver, because I am curious? Or to put it another way that is practically relevant to me, if I was either a mom or a Christmas artist, at one point would you advise I stop focusing on Santa themes and focus more on general themes?

Honestly, most people I know who believed in Santa did so as a kid, and figured it all out by 10 years old or so.

In my family, we still mark some gifts as being "From Santa" just for fun. But everyone knows who it's likely from (parents). But, it's rarely been taken seriously.

When the kids were really young, we would do the whole cookies and milk routine to keep the "magic" going for the kids. We'd even pen a note from "Santa" to the kids, which they got a kick out of and were really excited about. But, they eventually all figured it out one by one. But, it's still fun.

-- BK

Honestly the oldest I've seen was myself at 12. Everyone in my school had moved on by around ages 10 and 11 but I thought they were full of it when they were trying to tell me the truth lol. But when my mom was honest, I oddly wasn't even that upset at all, despite being such a strong believer.