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.

Why I Love Having Young Kids at My Age

So, most of my friends from high school started having kids younger than I did. Some are even grandparents now. It's weird, because it makes me feel old, but then I look at my kids (in elementary and middle schools), and feel a little younger again.

I've learned a lot from my kids. They make up words, they are sarcastic just like me and my husband, and we have some interesting conversations. For example:

Took Matthew to McD's the other night to get some "crack for kids", otherwise known as nuggets.
Matt: Mom, do you know why McDonald's chicken nuggets are so good?
Me: No, why are they so good?
Matt: It's the grease!

Picking up Matthew from school:
Me looking in the rearview & not seeing him: Matt, what're you doing?
Matt: Looking at my shadow. Hey, you don't have eyes in the back of your head... & neither does daddy!
Me: Then how come I know when you're up to no good?
Matt: (silence)

I added a new word to my vocabulary -- 'aloneless': the condition opposite of crowded or accompanied by others. Apparently, this word exists only in 'Matthew's Unabridged Dictionary v.1'.

I learned that a place can be "infested with people" -- courtesy of Andrew.

I've also learned that spelling bees can have some of the dumbest words. Andrew (my straight-A student) was recently caught off guard because he was supposed to spell "yippee". Seriously? Yippee? He missed the word after correctly spelling "warrior". Go figure.

Crochet - A Genetic Trait? Really?

So, I'm talking to my hubby the other day and tell him about a recent conversation I had with a bank teller. She was impressed that I had the ability to crochet, and to be expert enough to sell my goods. Her experience with crochet wasn't so good and, apparently, she wound up throwing everything across the room.

So hubby says, "I thought all women could crochet... isn't it, like, genetic?"

D'oh! What on earth is this man talking about? He's a very intelligent man; I know he's not that stoo-pid.

Ok, after I stopped laughing at him, and after a few minutes of discussion, I realized that he really hasn't known any women who haven't picked up a crochet hook or knitting needles at some point and actually made something. I guess it was just a "woman" thing that all women knew how to do; that it was somehow on a small strand of DNA contributed solely by the X chromosome.

He is now educated on the matter. He also understands that not all crochet is created equal, and that there are men who crochet -- but he still insists they must be 'XXY' males. "You can't fight biology!"

I still love my hubby.