The Truth Comes Out

I knew the day would come eventually. I was hoping it wouldn’t happen with Riley so soon. I mean she’s only 8. So innocent. And as a parent, you just hope they stay babies forever...but they don’t. You can only imagine how mortified I was when she asked me. Completely caught off guard, I directed her to ask her father to tell her the truth...and there, we realized, the holidays would never be the same.

Santa isn't real.

"Mommy, I have to ask you something. [My friend] told me that Santa isn't real and that he's dead."

To which I responded: No, baby, he's not dead. Uhhhh, go downstairs and ask daddy.

I'm thankful to have Ryan home on days like this. When you aren't prepared to answer the big questions or WANT to answer the questions and wished you had some sort of manual to guide you through. Ryan was honest with her and told her that he was make-believe and in her confused state, she ran up the stairs, into her bedroom and decided that she hated Christmas -- because it all was a lie.

Ryan and I were really sad about it. Not just for the Santa part, but having her upset about death made us feel really bad. I can't imagine how we are going to cope with the death of a loved one and hope that it doesn't happen for a very long time. But, in the meantime, we no longer have that magic that surrounds Christmas with Riley. Luckily, Ronan seems to have a couple years to believe in the magic -- but if Riley has anything to do with it, she's going to expose him to the 'truth' sooner than later and our babies will just have to settle for gifts from mom and dad, rather than from the big, fat, jolly old man with the white beard.