Devastated 8-year-old girl writes touching letter to parents after discovering the truth about Santa

Getting presents from Santa Claus, leaving milk and cookies by the fireplace, and hanging stockings are among the most exciting Christmas traditions for kids. However, at some point, every child discovers the truth about Santa Claus, a heartbreaking realization for many. Each child reacts differently to this revelation, and one 8-year-old had a particularly memorable response—she wrote an angry letter to her parents after learning that Santa isn't real. The letter was shared by the girl's family friend, u/ITookYourGP, on Reddit.

"I may say... you lied to me! I will hate you. Also, I don't know why this elf thing is in here. Maybe from Aspen before she lost her magic. You broke my heart," the girl wrote in the letter. The next page had the drawing of a broken heart along with the words, "You are a love breaker and a dream crusher. P.S. Never forgive a liar and a backstabber." The girl's dad, Derek Rogers, spoke to Newsweek about the incident and explained the entire story. "Our daughter had an Elf on the Shelf who was a kind elf and a Christmas friend. She also had all the Elf Pets from the same story. She wrote letters to Santa, and sometimes he even wrote back," the dad shared.

One day, the daughter returned from school and asked, "A boy at school said Santa isn't real. And the Elves on the Shelf aren't real, either. And that the only people who still believe that are me and my family. Mom, Dad... is it true? Is Santa real?" Rogers continued, "We had always agreed that once she was old enough to ask directly, we wouldn't lie to her. So, just a week before Christmas, it was time to have the conversation." He added, "We explained the legend of Saint Nicholas, the Spirit of Christmas, and how parents all over the world keep the magic alive by giving children the joy of believing in Santa. We told her that when a child grows old enough, they get to learn the true story and become part of the tradition by helping to keep the spirit alive."

The daughter broke down in tears and couldn't believe that her parents had lied to her for eight years. "I have to say some things that might not be nice, and I don't want to say them out loud," the girl said and ran to their home office to write down her feelings. "While it was heartbreaking to see her pain, we couldn't help but smile at the tenderness and sweetness in her writing," Rogers remarked. The girl soon went back to her cheerful self once she had processed her feelings. People in the comments expressed their thoughts on the incident.

u/AlbertaSparky wrote, "When our daughter found out she didn't write us a letter, but she did storm into the living room full tears yelling 'you lied.' Then went into full meltdown about the easter bunny, the tooth fairy, you name it. We felt so bad." u/Comments_Wyoming commented, "This exact scenario is why my mother never told us growing up that any of those stories were real. She reasoned that if she lied about all of that when we were little, we would not believe her about real stuff when we were older.  The whole, 'don't do cocaine, don't drive drunk, don't have unprotected sex' would just sound like more lies to keep our teenage selves from having fun. Also, she wanted the credit for all of the good presents!" u/pmjm remarked, "My parents didn't tell me that it's taboo to break this news to other kids, so I unwittingly brought my entire kindergarten class to tears."