This afternoon Miles was telling me all about how a leprechaun came to his classroom while the children were at art class. The leprechaun hid little chocolates and left behind teeny tiny footprints. Footprints "as big as your thumb". It was so cute, hearing Miles excitedly tell this story, he was completely sold on the whole thing. (Man, I love kindergarten!)
Well, anyway, tonight as the kids were getting ready for bed, Miles re-told the story for Addie and Jason. Jason was smiling, loving all the details. Addie wasn't buying it:
Miles: ...and then he left footprints!
Addie: The teacher did that.
Miles: But there were chocolates!
Addie: The teacher did that.
Miles: But he knocked over a chair, and we found it like that! The teacher wouldn't knock over a chair!
Addie: Yes, she would. And she DID.
Miles: [Shaking his head - totally not believing Addie's accusations] No. It was a leprechaun. I know it was. He used leprechaun MAGIC.
At this point, I scooted Miles out of the room and had a word with Addie. We talked about how I know she knows it's pretend but she needs to play along for Miles' sake, and let him be a six-year-old. She LOVED this new responsiblity. She gave me several huge exaggerated winks.
So I went to read Miles a book. A few minutes later, Jason came in the room and whispered that Addie's asking about ALL the fictional people. Santa, the Bunny, the whole group. She wants to know the truth. Now. Holy crap!!! Now what? I asked him to wait, because it's not every day that this comes up and it really seemed like Addie was ready for some answers. She'd been asking a lot about it since December, but I wasn't up for "the talk". Tonight I figured, I'll never be ready for this, but it was happening, ready or not. I finished up with Miles, tucked him in and the three of us went into another room to sort this out.
Us: So Addie, you have some questions?
Addie: Yes. Is Santa real?
Us: Well, no.
Addie: Giggling. Wow! Who got all those presents? It was you, right?
Us: Uh, yeah.
Addie: Wow! And the stockings too! I totally don't believe the reindeer thing, and there's no way Santa could eat all those cookies, or have time to do all the houses....(she went on and on listing all Santa's duties)
Her eyes were so wide open. She was giddy that she cracked the code. She was so thrilled to be "in" on something so huge. Monumental, even, in her eight-year-old mind. We went on to explain what a big job she has now, to keep the secret for her brother's sake, and never to discuss it with other kids. And how important it is to be ready to find out instead of someone spoiling it for them. She was totally fine with all of it. And me? Well, I started to cry. It was as if all of a sudden a little bit of my baby girl disappeared. I didn't expect this milestone to happen today, or so soon. I hugged her, (even though she was not phased in the least), and told her how much I've enjoyed this part of her life. It stung for me, but as per usual, Addie's milestones are already past by the time I accept them. The bright side is, we have a very eager helper for the next holiday. And truth be told, the exaggerated winks are pretty funny.
2 comments:
every year in Justin's preschool they set traps to try to catch a Leprecaun and every year that sneeky guy gets away. But not before "trashing" the place. The kids LOVE it and Jessica still talks about it. It is a highlight of their year. I remember Jessica had some Lep highjinx in her K year too. So fun, glad Miles bought it.
Addie is so smart. Assuming no one tells her I think Jess will be believing for years. Of course my mom said "you don't believe you don't get" so the Big guy stuck around for awhile.
Pretty sure Emma is playing along - but heaven forbid we have a discussion about it! For the record I would have gotten teary too... Addie reminds me of my nephew Nate. He was so bright and observant. We could give him a wink or a whisper about something at 3 or 4 and he'd totally get it. He got the concepts of sarcasm and playing along with things before he was in kindergarten. Caitlin is another story... Totally gullible - believes without question, with all her heart. (Which I love about her) But as you can imagine Nate occasionally can't help himself from toying with her...
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