Early last week, he approached me with a troubled look on his face and wanted to know if Santa was real. I gave him my usual, "Well, what do you think?" And this time, he replied, "I want to believe he's real but I just don't think there's any way it could be true."
He's 13 so I told him the truth. He was extremely disappointed and a little sad. But then he said, "The only reason I was really still thinking that he might be real was our gifts. How do you get them to Massachusetts?
"Amazon Prime!"
"Ohhhhh! Well, that makes sense! What about the elf?"
I showed him our poor little Elf on the Shelf hidden in the back of Dan's dresser, wrapped up in the red towel we use to transport him from here to Massachusetts.
The elf is the reason that I am certain Sarah no longer believes either. She hasn't come right out and asked but neither one of them mentioned our elf after we put up our Christmas tree. It was a couple of days later and I asked Dan if I should get it out.
He looked at me with great disbelief and violently shook his head. "Why would you get that thing out if they aren't asking for it? It's nothing but one big hassle."
And I agree. Ever since we've had that thing it's been just one more thing to do. One more thing to remember. And our poor elf never did any exciting things like the other elves seem to do.(Well, usually once a season he would do something really mischievous but for the most part, he just moved around from shelf to perch to shelf.
So I left Sparkle wrapped in his towel. And have been a little glum about it all month.
The kids are growing up. I guess it's what they are supposed to do, but sometimes it leaves me a little wistful.
Back in December, 2008 when both my babies still believed...
6 comments:
Different stages of life. This is the first year Christopher really knows and cares about Santa. I will be equally sad when they grow out of it as well. This post got me all teary.
It's hard making those BIG transitions. I thought Christmas would no longer hold the magic and wonder once the kids were older.....it is really a LOT more fun for us now. They're still surprised by little gifts and they really appreciate the family time more now. Love the pictures.
Growing up is hard!!! Especially on the mama. I'm pretty sure my big kids don't believe anymore either, but they still play along, giving me a wink now and then. Hugs, Beth.
I hear you. My oldest two no longer believe, but it's fun in different ways now. And for what it's worth, my mom has labelled the tags on my presents from her and my dad my entire life "From: Santa" " I'm 40 years old. I think it's adorable that she still does that. Have fun with it.
Oh so hard!
I know EXACTLY what you're talking about. My 3 boys are all grown, and Christmas isn't the same. Next year, I'm skipping the presents (unless there's something specific that they want) & scaling back on the baking. The magic is definitely gone, and it's sad. :(
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