Hey, it's Brian, and just a quick heads up before we start to let you know that this

episode of Christmas past is definitely for the grown-ups only. So if there are little ones in the room

or even within earshot, save this one for later. Thanks. Do you remember when you stopped believing in Santa Claus?

Yeah, I think it was like two years ago, three years ago maybe. Do you remember how you found out?

Um, kind of. I remember it was a couple. I'm talking to my good friend Hope in Massachusetts.

Usually on Christmas past, I share your Christmas memories,

but this episode is dedicated to me sharing one of mine. It's a memory you have too in some form,

because it's inevitable for everyone who grows up celebrating Christmas and believing in Santa Claus.

I'm talking, of course, about learning the truth about Santa.

And this is why I'm talking to Hope.

I remember the when and the how part perfectly, but what I don't remember was how it felt.

So I wanted to talk to someone for whom all of this was still fresh.

We take it for granted that everyone who believes in Santa eventually learns the truth.

One day you believe and the next day you don't. But when you think about it, it's kind of a big deal.

It's one of the first major signposts that childhood is ending. It destroys a belief that you

held firmly for your whole life up until that point, and it forever changes, for better

or worse, something about your overall experience of celebrating Christmas. Earlier in the year,

my friends at Tiz the podcast asked me to share a story about when and how I found out for myself.

Here's what I shared, and at the end I'll come back and play more of my conversation

with Hope, and we'll hear from her mom, too, because that's another big part of all this.

What is it like for them when a child stops believing? So we'll get to all of that. But first,

my story. I hope you enjoy it. Every year when I was growing up, the Christmas season announced itself with the arrival of the toy catalogs in the mail.

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