I think older kids probably clued me in, but I don't remember a thing about it. I don't think I was much inclined to believe in Santa as a child, and my parents weren't big on the myth. They were more likely to inform us if something we were hoping for was beyond the family budget, and I don't remember being very troubled by that. I do remember them reading The Night Before Christmas, but I thought of it as any other charming storybook. I could easily get more excited about brown paper packages coming in the mail because those were unexpected and unpredictable surprises from distant relatives. Now I still get excited about Amazon boxes because half the time I can't think what it was I ordered!