Monday, February 7, 2011

The End of Fairytales?

So, a few months ago, I was sitting at the computer and my 11-year-old comes up to me. After a minute, I got tired of him hovering over my shoulder and asked him what was up.

Me: What's up?
Him: I wanted to ask you a question.
Me: Ok, ask.
Him: Is the tooth fairy real, or are you the tooth fairy?
Me: You want the truth?
Him: Yes.
Me: I'm the tooth fairy.
Him: I knew it!

Flash forward to a few months after that conversation, just before Christmas. Same scenario.

I'm sitting at the computer, and he's hovering again.

Me: What's up?
Him: I wanted to ask you a question.
Me: Ok, ask.
Him: Is Santa real?
Me: You want the truth?
Him: No, that's ok...

I guess the lesson that I learned from this is that by a certain age, kids know the truth, but really really like to keep believing for as long as they can. Sometimes, I wish I could, too.

3 comments:

  1. That is such a great story! I think you're right, they do know the truth after a while, but sometimes decide to keep believing anyway. I remember when I had my first doubts about Santa (I saw my Dad wheeling my new bike down the drive on Christmas Eve), and even though I knew deep down he didn't really exist, I really really wanted him to, so I just carried on believing :D

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  2. When I was about 7 or 8, my parents knew that sooner or later someone at school would burst the dream for me, and it might not be in a kind way. So they took my aside, shared the "secret" and enlisted me to help keep my little sister, 3 years younger from finding out where the presents were hidden until Christmas eve. I loved discovering that they had done these elaborate things to make this wonderful fun for us, and I really loved being thought grown up enough to participate in the furtherance of it all!

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  3. That is so cute. I remember when I found out about Santa. I saw my mom stuffing the stockings. I did not say anything for a couple of years. I knew my Dad loved the whole thing about Santa and Christmas and so did I. Have a great day!

    Mama Hen

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