Oops!? You Weren’t Supposed to Find Out Like This…

Sorry to burst your bubble, but Santa doesn’t exist. If you didn’t know this already, it was probably time you knew. 

Everyone in life has to go through the pain of figuring out that the large man in a red suit is actually fictional. The shift from believing a magical tale of jolly Santa Claus flying in on a sleigh led by reindeer to deliver presents and then to learn that it was your parents all along can be a tough pill to swallow. For most, their story of discovering Santa doesn’t exist brings back very memorable or equally terrible moments. While some on the other hand, are simply hilarious. 

The most common way that people seem to find out the truth about Santa is because they chose to hide behind their tree to see if they could spot him placing the gifts, one could argue that curiosity killed the cat holds true for those who found out this way.  This is how two freshmen, Jennifer Rojas and Isabella Martinez, found out that Santa wasn’t real. However, in some cases, this was taken to the extreme. A perfect example is what happened to senior Kevin Lopez, “I was 6 and my dad dressed up as Santa and he came through the door, not through the chimney. Then I went to feel his beard and I ripped it off.” 

A well-known Christmas tradition is the Elf on the Shelf. For kids who have it, they claim that when no one is looking, they will ‘move.’ That means parents have to be really smart to not get caught. Unfortunately, for sophomore Emily Perez, she was not so lucky. As one morning while she was still sleeping her mom went to make it seem as if her elves had thrown her shoes. As her mother was doing this, she was woken up by the noise, and the eventual question was why she had seen her mother throwing shoes out of her closet, this led to the secret of Santa to be revealed to her.

In other instances, some parents do such a great job of keeping the secret that it isn’t until a teacher or friend eventually delivers the heartbreaking news to them. This was the case for senior Nathaeli AIicea who at the age of 12 was still a big believer. Alas, this was bound to end poorly. Instead of having time to comprehend it, she was sitting in class one day and her teacher very nonchalantly said, “Ok guys, you know the deal, that Santa is not real.”  Through this the teacher ultimately ruined the magic of Christmas for Nathaeli and her parents’ remarkable efforts of keeping it alive for so long.

Overall, finding out that the actions of Saint Nicholas on December 24th are very difficult for a child and causes a variety of reactions. Most students at Ferguson were in despair when they found out, but the responses can be mixed. Such as sophomore Jason Maldonado, who after seeing his dad moving around in the costume eating the cookies, just laughed at how ridiculous it looked.

At the end of the day, we at the Talon hope that as the holiday season has come to a close, you reflect on how you discovered the hidden truth of Santa Claus. If you have a particularly ridiculous story, leave us a comment below!