When I was a kid, my mother would tell us during the whole year that Santa was watching what you were doing, and that's I could tell whether you were naughty or nice, but for some reason I thought that Santa would send his Elves out to watch children and I used to think that elves were hiding in pipes, vents, and behind walls watching everything you did.

Lucy K.

i thought santa was gods brother

Anon

my parents used to tell me that if i didn't go to sleep on time on chistmas eve that santa wouldin't come and give me my present

cynthia

I learned from an early age that Father Christmas, or whatever you want to call him, wasn't real. Therefore, the first time I saw a man in a Santa suit, I freaked out. ("A Visit From St. Nicholas" triggered similar freak-outs for years afterwards.)

Anon

I believed in Santa until I was at least 11. My father used to go up on the roof with some jingle bells and ring them in the middle of the night. I remember peeking out into the living room one Christmas eve and seeing Santa's bum! Really I did!

Patty

I believed in father christmas until i heard him swear over my stupid sock..

kristine

when i was about 7 or 8 every christmas eve it took me 4ever to get 2 sleep cos i was so excited and i used 2 lie up 4 ages n wenever i heard my mum or dad i would quickly pretend to b asleep. well one year i couldnt sleep so i was sitting reading a book and i heard sum1 coming up the stairs so i lay down and closed my eyes, then i heard someone with a bag come into my room and i was teriffied! i wanted 2 open my eyes to see if it was santa but i was 2 scared. wen the person left the room i opened my eyes and there was a present on my bed. to this day i dont kno who or what it was in my room that night.

Hayleigh from Aberdeen!

At Stillag (my grandparents old house) there was this thing that went on top of the chimney. I didn't know how Father Christmas could get down there, so I came up with the conclusion that he made himself really small to get there.

Charlotte

Where i grew up it always rained at christmas time, so my mum used to tell us kids that the thunder we heard was santa coming across the clouds. I belived her for quite a while.

Harper

I used to belive that santa lived in my attic, and that he could see everything i did, and if I was'nt nice, I would get no presents.. so I was always very nice around christmas-time, so that santa would give me gifts.. Of course, this was just something my mom made up, so I would be nice to people...

Anon

When I was little, I always wondered why Santa was so weird - because he delivered presents to my house, and my uncles' house, and my grandparents' house. I eventually reasoned that Santa must do that so that I wouldn't stay at home all day playing with my presents - that way I would have to go see my family who missed me and wanted to share the special day with me too. :)

Thanks Santa!

I believed in Santa, until one year - I think I was about 9. I was climbing up on the kitchen cupboards to get a mug out of the cupboard above, and I was just tall enough to look on top of the cupboard, so you know, I took a look at what was up there, as any other curious child would, to find and old dusty letter that said 'Santa' on it. Then I picked it up and realised this was one of the letters I wrote to santa years ago, and my parents had hid it there ever since. I got really upset and threw a tantrum because I found out Santa wasn't real, and my parents had hidden my letter there.

Anon

When I was littler I thought that Santa had a magical key that could let him get inot everybody's house

Eric "The Santa Jr. Looking guy"

I used to believe that Santa Clous was a child, because he had a lot of energy to deliver all the presents around the world, just as a kid. =)

anakaren*

when i was a kid i used to think santa had a magic key that opened every door since we didnt have a chimney.... also in that song where santa sees everything we do i thought it was only logical he had a crystalball to see us like pshcics :P

the kid

My best friend was born on and grew up on Christmas Island, and her dad has always had a big white beard. One day she confided in me that she had for the longest time harboured a secret belief that her dad was Father Christmas.

Anon

I used to believe in Santa until my parents told me he was dead. One day, before christmas, I found my presents in a suitcase. Out of desperation, and under the pressure of a very inquisitive child, they eplained to me that he died of old age, and they had to buy the presents themselves so I would not be dissapointed and left empty handed.

Oli.

At Christmas time, during special programs intended for children, I used to look behind the radio to see if Santa Claus and his elves were perhaps hiding there.

Anon

This is actually about a 4 year old boy that I baby-sit sometimes.

This past Christmas, "Santa" visited him during the Christmas Eve party his family was having. The poor kid freaked out and ran underneath the table. He was so scared because he hadn't been such a good boy that year and he knew from the song "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" that Santa had always been watching him. He was afraid Santa was going to yell at him.

Danielle

Every Christmas when I was little my mom would take me to a certain department store because she said only the real Santa went there. While I was on my way up to see Santa the girl would ask my mom my name (making sure that I wouldn't see her asking) so by the time I got to Santa he would say "Hello Carrie." After I was done I told my mom that Santa did know who I was. Because of this I kept the belief that Santa was real up until I was 13, all because he knew my name and didn't have to ask me.

Carrie