Another bit of magic gone...

[LynnS6]

Dd (age 6, turning 7 in a month) figured out this evening that I'm the Easter Bunny. And Santa. And the Tooth Fairy. I won't lie when they ask me directly, though I'll keep the charade going. She figured it out just before bedtime and has gotten up at least 4 times to ask me more questions -- "are you the one who wrote the notes?" "are you the one who made up the name Dentina for the tooth fairy?" "That was a pretty good story you made up about what the tooth fairies did with the teeth." (They grind up the teeth and use them as cement to build fairy houses, in case you're wondering.)

In some ways I'm glad. She was terrified of the Easter Bunny/Santa/Tooth Fairy because she didn't like the idea of someone coming in to our house while we were asleep.

But, it's one more magical milestone gone....

[MusicianDad]

It's not completely gone. Even as an adult there is a sort of magic that hangs around when you wake up in the morning to see something special left out for you that wasn't there when you went to bed, even when you know who really did it. 

[~cassie]

Aww!  I agree--the magic can still be there!  I fear my 6 yr old is prettty close to finding out.  He really wants to believe so he is keeping on for now.  Kids at his school keep telling him it isn't real :( and he asks me and I'll ask him what he thinks and I always get "I think it is real!" So I keep on letting him believe :)

[granny-mary]

Aww... :) (HUGS)

We intentionally never told our kids that the Easter Bunny, Santa or the Tooth Fairy were real... HOWEVER... we DID say it was fun to pretend they were ... so it became like a bit of a family 'joke'. 
We just had to be careful that in the acting we didn't mislead them into believing ... 

Remember "The Littles" ...the wee people with tails that lived in the houses of humans like the Biggs? 

We read those stories to our kids and they loved it... then we would 'pretend' to have them in our home... leaving little notes by the outlet boxes and removing tiny treats left for them to eat... 

Found out that despite our intentions of keeping it a fun-to-pretend fantasy; our one daughter actually convinced herself (age 5 at the time) that we HAD THE LITTLES living in our house. 

Again... we gently shared that while it wasn't real it was fun to pretend. 

And Pretending DOES build one's imagination! 

[Wittyone]

My little guy is almost 5 - funny thing is he just *started* buying into Santa and the Easter Bunny in the last year or so!  We never made much of them, but he's picked up on them and thinks they are cool.  We saw the movie "HOP" last week, so now he's convinced the EB lives on an island and flies around in a sled to deliver easter baskets and hide the eggs!  I don't directly contradict him but we just let his imagination go and play along.  I'm interested to see how long it will last...

[HollyBearsMom]

My son is 9 and still totally believes!  We have never told hi they were real but he convinced himself was he was around 4ish.

The magic will still continue in all your family traditions! Hold on to that.

[LynnS6]

Oh, we'll keep the traditions. They still got up at 6 am to look for their Easter baskets. If anything, this has made dd more comfortable with the holidays. Dd just told me. "I love Easter. I love my mother. You're the best Easter bunny."

I'm just feeling old and nostalgic. Ds is turning 10 this week, and I'm not ready for double digits. Dd is definitely no longer a young child, but is definitely entering middle childhood.

[insidevoice]

My nine year old has embraced the fact that Santa and the Easter Bunny work through the adults.  She asked if she could be the easter Bunny to hide the eggs for her younger siblings, in fact.  It's bitter-sweet, some of the magic goes, but she likes the traditions we have create, and is so excited to be a big part of helping to keep them going with younger siblings that it's hard to be entirely sad. 

[ElliesMomma]

Originally Posted by MusicianDad 

It's not completely gone. Even as an adult there is a sort of magic that hangs around when you wake up in the morning to see something special left out for you that wasn't there when you went to bed, even when you know who really did it. 

i'll tell ya the truth about me. i think i still *believe* in santa. and even though i am now fulfilling santa's work on christmas eve, a part of me is truly sad and actually still surprised that the jolly old guy isn't actually real. but i believed until i was at least 10 and i just think i've got that type of personality. i'm sure most people aren't that way.