One of the most fun things about being a parent is having the opportunity to help Santa Clause, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny. We now have the fun experience of one child who still strongly believes and the other child who has a very clear understanding of mom and dad’s role in “helping” all mystical figures.
I had about decided that after Bryce leaves home I would have to make an arrangement with his wife to let me in so he doesn’t get disappointed when Santa and the Easter Bunny don’t come see him. Although, I think I don’t have to worry about that anymore since these mystical creatures are probably about to fire me as their helper.
It all started a couple of months ago when Bryce lost a tooth and the Tooth Fairy forgot to visit. He was quite distraught the next morning so I ended up making up a ridiculous story about hockey season just starting, etc. (Yes – I lied to my child… I feel terribly guilty about that – but it did make him feel better about the Tooth Fairy forgetting about him). So the next night, the “Tooth Fairy” remembered… but couldn’t find his tooth. This has never happened before so naturally it raised much concern and question.
Then Easter rolls around. As the Easter Bunny is sorting out all the goodies to be discovered… the Easter Bunny’s “friend” (aka husband) decides it would be fun to put little coupon/tickets in a few of the eggs for things like a drink from Sonic after school or a day off of chores, etc. On looking back at it… I think it was because the Easter Bunny was robbing coins from said friend to fill the eggs with; therefore “friend” came up with this brilliant idea to save himself money. And to be fair, it was a brilliant idea – the kids loved it! The only problem was… it was so last minute that the Easter Bunny hand wrote these little coupon/tickets. Bryce, being much smarter than I give him credit for noticed right off that the Easter Bunny’s hand writing looks just like moms. So, naturally, trying to spare my babies youthfulness I lied to him once again and told him “maybe the Easter Bunny is a girl.” He decided it was a possibility and went on about his morning getting ready for church. Later in the day he comes up to me with a piece of paper from my office and one of his tickets. After carefully examining the handwriting on both he had determined that I was indeed the Easter Bunny. As he walked away he turned and with a smirk on his face said, “I’ve got my eye on you.”
After a sigh of relief and just as I was feeling “in the clear”, in-walks Bryce holding a tooth in his hand. What’s the deal? Is this child part shark… where do all these teeth come from? And the more serious question, could I manage to destroy his imagination completely in one day? I am happy to report the Tooth Fairy was successful!
These recent events have reminded me of a conversation I had with my parental units when Austin was a baby. They reminded me how they didn’t pretend with us that there was really a Santa Claus, etc. because they felt that it was lying to us. As a young adult, I naturally assumed my parents didn’t know what they were talking about. And, alas, I find myself lying to my younglings – not so much about the creatures but about everything else (typically having to do with the “helper” doing a lousy job) so that they will still believe in the creatures. I say all this to publicly admit that my parents were RIGHT!
On the bright side (and in large part to make myself feel better about the idea of lying to my children), it is all in fun and even when kids do figure out these creatures are simply “mystical” they aren’t disappointed because they are still excited about the fact that mom and dad continue to play the part. In fact, they appear to have more fun trying to prove they don’t exist than they would if they just believed.
All in all, our Easter weekend was a wonderful one and we find ourselves blessed beyond reason once again!
No comments:
Post a Comment