A few months ago, Youngest asked about the tooth fairy. Since she is getting close to seven years old, I decided to tell her the truth. She took the news very well. I toyed with telling her everything, but after my experience with Eldest, decided to let her ask about each magical being on her own. With Eldest, I thought it would be less painful to just get all the bad news over at once, so when she asked about the Easter Bunny, I told her about all of them. She yelled, “I only asked you about the Easter Bunny!”
So not terribly long ago I started taking Youngest’s innocence with the tooth fairy. Yesterday she asked me about Santa. I told her the truth, including the part about him being a symbol of the magic of giving to others. She took the news like a trooper, then went to her room and sobbed. She wouldn’t let me in for a while. It broke my heart. When she finally let me in, I assured her that nothing would change, since it had been me all along. That information lessened the sting a bit, thankfully.
About an hour after the Santa incident, Youngest came to me and said, “The Easter Bunny is real.” I asked if she was telling me or asking me. She said, “telling.” I asked why she thought he was real, and she informed me that the bunny brings jelly beans. I said, “Don’t they sell jelly beans in the store?” She informed me, with a DUH! sound in her voice, that the store is where he gets the jelly beans. I guess a girl can only handle so much truth at a time.
Sometimes life is about laughing so you don't cry. Other times, it is about laughing so hard that you do.
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