Family

<h2>AITA for telling my 13-year-old niece the truth about Santa Claus?</h2><blockquote> <p>I (F30) have a niece who is 13. Up until a week ago, she still believed in Santa. I asked her parents (my brother and SIL) if she was just pretending to still believe to not make them feel bad, or maybe to get more gifts or something, but they were adamant she still believed.</p> </blockquote><blockquote> <p>Last Christmas Eve I was at their house for dinner, and she kept saying things like &ldquo;I&rsquo;m so excited for Santa to come tonight&rdquo; and telling me everything she had asked him for and wondering what country he was in at that very moment. She doesn&rsquo;t have any younger siblings, so it&rsquo;s not like she was saying this for anybody else&rsquo;s benefit.</p> </blockquote><blockquote> <p>She is a smart girl, does well in school, and has no developmental delays that I know of. She just, for whatever reason, still believed in Santa at age 13.</p> </blockquote><div className="ad-splitter"></div><blockquote> <p>Her parents didn&rsquo;t seem to have an issue with it. They said they absolutely did not want to tell her the truth and &ldquo;ruin the magic&rdquo; of Christmas. Plus they said it was beneficial for them because believing in Santa would encourage her to &ldquo;be good&rdquo; in the hopes of getting better presents/not getting coal.</p> </blockquote><blockquote> <p>I love my niece a lot, and after agonizing over this for some time, I felt it might be necessary to tell her the truth, if her parents were refusing. I remember how brutal middle school girls can be. I mean, she had to be the only girl at her school who still believed in Santa.</p> </blockquote><blockquote> <p>If it somehow got out that she still believed, and she got teased or bullied, that could be brutal and awful for her. Wasn&rsquo;t it better to hear it from her aunt than some mean girl (or guy)?</p> </blockquote><div className="ad-splitter"></div><blockquote> <p>So, a week ago, I told her the truth. I tried to do it in a gentle way, explaining that what Santa represents (the spirit of Christmas) is very real, but that there wasn&rsquo;t actually a guy with flying reindeer going to every kid&rsquo;s house in one night to deliver presents.</p> </blockquote><blockquote> <p>She didn&rsquo;t say much and got a bit teary eyed. But she did reach out to me a few days later and let me know that she appreciated me telling her the truth. Her parents, however, are furious at me and not talking to me. I feel like I did the right thing, but I know it was against her parents&rsquo; wishes. AITA?</p> </blockquote><p>Here&#39;s what people had to say:</p><p><a data-testid="comment_author_link" href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Significant-Stage-54/">Significant-Stage-54</a> writes:</p><div className="ad-splitter"></div><blockquote> <p>YTA. Yes, 13 is old enough to know the truth. However, you cannot just arbitrarily decide when and what your niece should and should not know. Not your child. Not your business. Not your choice. You were out of line.</p> </blockquote><p> </p><p><a data-testid="comment_author_link" href="https://www.reddit.com/user/myshellly/">myshellly</a> writes:</p><blockquote> <p>YTA. Bottom line - not your kid, you knew it was against her parents&rsquo; wishes, and you did it anyway.</p> </blockquote><p><a data-testid="comment_author_link" href="https://www.reddit.com/user/No-Barnacle-4879/">No-Barnacle-4879</a> writes:</p><blockquote> <p>YTA not even because of the girls age, but because you broke a level of trust between her and her parents, and you and her parents. It wasn&rsquo;t your place. The end.</p> </blockquote><p><a data-testid="comment_author_link" href="https://www.reddit.com/user/redditisajokelmaox/">redditisajokelmaox</a> writes:</p><div className="ad-splitter"></div><blockquote> <p>What are all these comments. Kid is f****d if she thinks Santa is real at 13 💀. There was a dude I knew when I was in middle school and some kids found out he thought Santa was real. He was relentlessly bullied, it was terrible. NTA, all the way. If anything your saving her, kids can be really mean sometimes.</p> </blockquote><p><a data-testid="comment_author_link" href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Ok-Ebb4485/">Ok-Ebb4485</a> writes:</p><blockquote> <p>I don&rsquo;t care that I&rsquo;m going to get downvoted to hell. This needs to be said clearly.</p> </blockquote><blockquote> <p>OP you are absolutely NTA. You were open and honest with your niece and she appreciated it. You were looking out for her when her parents were setting her up to be bullied. Plus now she knows that she can trust you with things she wouldn&rsquo;t tell her parents.</p> </blockquote><p><a data-testid="comment_author_link" href="https://www.reddit.com/user/AdministrativeNet796/">AdministrativeNet796</a> writes:</p><div className="ad-splitter"></div><blockquote> <p>To piggy back on this. If she is 13 and truly still believes in Santa her parents aren&rsquo;t setting her up to be able to make logical decisions in the real world. 13 is middle school and middle schooler should not be that easily swayed by lies. She needs to be able to start to smell &ldquo;bs&rdquo; from strangers and believing in Santa ain&rsquo;t helping.</p> </blockquote><div className="ad-splitter"></div>

'AITA for telling my 13-year-old niece the truth about Santa Claus?'

AITA for telling my 13-year-old niece the truth about Santa Claus? I (F30) have a niece who is 13. Up until a week ago, she still believed in Santa. I asked her parents (my brother and SIL) if she was just pretending to still believe to not make them feel bad, or maybe to get more gifts or something, but they were adamant she still believed.  Last Christmas Eve I was at their house for dinner, and she kept saying things like &ldquo;I&rsquo;m so excited for Santa to come tonight&rdquo; and telling me everything she had asked him for and wondering what country he was in at that very moment. She doesn&rsquo;t have any younger siblings, so it&rsquo;s not like she was saying this for anybody else&rsquo;s benefit.  She is a smart girl, does well in school, and has no developmental delays that I know of. She just, for whatever reason, still believed in Santa at age 13.  Her parents didn&rsquo;t seem to have an issue with it. They said they absolutely did not want to tell her the truth and &ldquo;ruin the magic&rdquo; of Christmas. Plus they said it was beneficial for them because believing in Santa would encourage her to &ldquo;be good&rdquo; in the hopes of getting better presents/not getting coal.  I love my niece a lot, and after agonizing over this for some time, I felt it might be necessary to tell her the truth, if her parents were refusing. I remember how brutal middle school girls can be. I mean, she had to be the only girl at her school who still believed in Santa.  If it somehow got out that she still believed, and she got teased or bullied, that could be brutal and awful for her. Wasn&rsquo;t it better to hear it from her aunt than some mean girl (or guy)?  So, a week ago, I told her the truth. I tried to do it in a gentle way, explaining that what Santa represents (the spirit of Christmas) is very real, but that there wasn&rsquo;t actually a guy with flying reindeer going to every kid&rsquo;s house in one night to deliver presents.  She didn&rsquo;t say much and got a bit teary eyed. But she did reach out to me a few days later and let me know that she appreciated me telling her the truth. Her parents, however, are furious at me and not talking to me. I feel like I did the right thing, but I know it was against her parents&rsquo; wishes. AITA? Here&#39;s what people had to say:Significant-Stage-54 writes: YTA. Yes, 13 is old enough to know the truth. However, you cannot just arbitrarily decide when and what your niece should and should not know. Not your child. Not your business. Not your choice. You were out of line.  myshellly writes: YTA. Bottom line - not your kid, you knew it was against her parents&rsquo; wishes, and you did it anyway. No-Barnacle-4879 writes: YTA not even because of the girls age, but because you broke a level of trust between her and her parents, and you and her parents. It wasn&rsquo;t your place. The end. redditisajokelmaox writes: What are all these comments. Kid is f****d if she thinks Santa is real at 13 💀. There was a dude I knew when I was in middle school and some kids found out he thought Santa was real. He was relentlessly bullied, it was terrible. NTA, all the way. If anything your saving her, kids can be really mean sometimes. Ok-Ebb4485 writes: I don&rsquo;t care that I&rsquo;m going to get downvoted to hell. This needs to be said clearly.  OP you are absolutely NTA. You were open and honest with your niece and she appreciated it. You were looking out for her when her parents were setting her up to be bullied. Plus now she knows that she can trust you with things she wouldn&rsquo;t tell her parents. AdministrativeNet796 writes: To piggy back on this. If she is 13 and truly still believes in Santa her parents aren&rsquo;t setting her up to be able to make logical decisions in the real world. 13 is middle school and middle schooler should not be that easily swayed by lies. She needs to be able to start to smell &ldquo;bs&rdquo; from strangers and believing in Santa ain&rsquo;t helping. 

AITA for telling my 13-year-old niece the truth about Santa Claus?   I (F30) have a niece who is 13. Up until a week ago, she still believed in Santa. I asked her parents (my brother and SIL) if she was just pretending to still believe to...