Christmas 1970: The year I realized there wasn’t a Santa Claus. I was 5 years old and those were the days when you couldn’t sleep because you wanted to know what kind of gifts would be under the tree in the morning.
Being the youngest of 4 kids, my brothers and sister would be equally excited about Christmas but I suppose being the youngest I was the most, um, gullible about the 
Christmas tales of Santa, reindeer, and all that other stuff. While Christmas wasn’t being pounded into our skulls from September to December back then (Side note: I wonder if the Right is still going flog that dead horse of “The War on Christmas†again?), there was still a lot of media saturation, Santa at Macy’s, and all the other blah-blah.
Anyway, I bought into the whole myth, and on Christmas eve I hung my stocking (actually it was a tube sock) with care in the hope that the jolly fat guy who can magically fly a sleigh with reindeer around the world in one night leaving gifts and candy for all the “good†children.  I figured I had been “good,†so I fully expected to see my tube sock (actually, it was my oldest brother’s tube sock) full of candy goodness. When I could sleep the night before Christmas, I had dreams of that tube sock just overflowing with candy. I really didn’t care about the gifts under the tree, it was the candy I was focused on.
My brother Steve and I shared a room back then, so he was awake, too. We kept talking about all the candy we were going to get, and every hour or so we’d go into our parent’s room and ask if it was time to open gifts. Finally, around 6am we were given the green light, and Steve and I bolted down the hall and into the living room to see what Santa left in our stockings.
What did we find? A note tacked to our fireplace. Yeah, a note. A note that said: “Sorry kids. I ran out of candy. See you next year. Santa.â€
How could this happen? I how could he run out of candy when he was Santa frickin’ Claus? My best friend at the time (Grant) was a Jew so Christmas was “Christmas-Shmistmas†for him. After I told him what happened, he said he was glad he was Jewish. After that day, I wanted to be Jewish, too.
FYI: Chanukah is December 15, 2006 – December 22, 2006
–PK
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Ml
November 2, 2006 at 7:33 amI was devistated when I found out that there was no Santa Claus. I was about 4 years old and over heard Andre and Dad talking about the farce. Apparently, Andre figured it out and was disscussing his logical conclusion to Dad. I was standing outside the bedroom door crushed!
I feel your pain 😉
C-Lo
November 2, 2006 at 7:37 amCue the “Debbie Downer” SFX. Geez! A note from Santa? How could he? He can make reindeer fly but he can’t produce a bag of Snickers for your stocking? So sad.
Py Korry
November 2, 2006 at 7:46 amYeah, major Debbie Downer moment. And Ml: I would have been crushed as well if I heard my older brother discussing the logical farce of Santa with my parents.
Beenzzz (Bean)
November 2, 2006 at 8:47 amHey Py,
I think it was you and Steve who told me there was no Santa. It was two months after we moved to the U.S. Naughty boy!!!! Anyway, it was devastating, but I got over it. It’s much better to ask your parents directly for what you want than play that “better be good because Santa can see you,” game. 🙂
Dot
November 2, 2006 at 9:22 amI was so devasted by the death of Santa that I never did the tradition with Autumn. Which she now resents me for. Stupid Santa!!!!!
Jason
November 2, 2006 at 10:05 amYou are so weird. Candy was more important than gifts? If I was Santa, I would have skipped your house too, because clearly you don’t understand the difference between CHRISTMAS and HALLOWEEN.
I don’t remember ever having the “Santa doesn’t exist” revelation. Therefore, as far as I’m concerned, he still exists.
CG
November 2, 2006 at 10:08 amHey PY, I still believe in Santa even at 60…….. years old. I still get a gigantic thrill on Christmas morning when I see all my “gifts”( Children and grands) coming over to open their gifts at my home.
J
November 2, 2006 at 10:22 amCG, I love Christmas and family and fun as much as the next person, but Santa Shmanta. 😉 I grew up without it, and never wanted to lie to Maya in that way…she seems to have survived as well. I remember one year, after one Christmas special too many on the boob tube, she decided that there WAS a Santa, no matter what we might say. Py and I told her that she was free to believe what she wanted, but we didn’t want Santa getting credit for things we bought her with our hard earned money. So we were going to return all of the gifts we bought her, and she could trust in Santa to deliver her from a giftless Christmas. She changed her mind mighty quickly, let me tell you.
Maybe it’s the cartoons, but she’s never pushed that hard about religion. Maybe that’s in the future.
Gina
November 2, 2006 at 11:22 amI’m sorry, but that made me laugh.
Maya's Granny
November 2, 2006 at 11:36 amWhen I was four or five, my Uncle Leland thought it would be funny to give me a bundle of switches from Santa. I was devastated. When it was time to leave my Grandmother Hunt’s house my parents told me to go put my presents in the car and the only thing I got was the switches. My father broke them and wanted to break his stupid brother.
When I was nine, there were no Santa gifts for me because my mother thought that I must surely know there was no Santa by now. I didn’t. I just figured they’d lied to me about where the switches came from.
I’m really sour on Santa.
Py Korry
November 2, 2006 at 2:57 pmI can see that except for Jason, we all live on the planet Earth! 😉
lalunas
November 2, 2006 at 3:04 pmWell, come on over we got a lot of your favorite candies for halloween. Have your pick and enjoy.
MsMamma
November 3, 2006 at 10:05 amI’m with Gina- this was hilarious. Thanks for a great idea for a blog post since I am attempting to post everyday. I will link back. 🙂
Cherry
November 3, 2006 at 10:34 amAhh man! Ran out of candy! That blows.
I don’t remember when I found out, so either it was uber tramatic that I’ve blocked it out, or it didn’t really phase me.