Busted!

Well, I guess that I spoke too soon...or maybe was dead on about borrowed time where the Easter Bunny is concerned.

This morning as I was fixing Zach's breakfast, he came up to me and asked, "Mom, do you and Dad really hide the eggs?"

Now in the Binkley household we believe in honest and open communication, so I asked him, "Do you really want to know?"

And he nodded and so I told him. And he reflected on that for a moment and then determined that there was no Easter Bunny. He was not upset, appalled or any of the other responses I have been dreading. We talked about it, and he agreed that although he knew we would be the ones hiding the eggs, he would still like to hunt eggs this year.

This evening, in light of that conversation, he asked "Is it the same deal for Santa, too?" And so we talked about that, and again he was very calm and okay with it. And again he agreed that we could continue to celebrate the Spirit of Christmas no matter if there was really a fat guy coming down our chimney.

And so for a while I agonized over whether or not to just come clean with it all and admit to him that the Tooth Fairy wasn't real, even though he hadn't asked yet. And so I did. And immediately he wanted to know where I kept his teeth, and so I showed him in the back of my jewelry drawer where the box with his baby teeth is. (Now to be fair, I am not sure why I am keeping those teeth. I have no future plans for them, and doubt he will want to take them to college with him, but for now there are in safe-keeping in a tooth box.)

It was actually a very interesting evening. Somehow it brought us a little closer as we talked about my memories as child celebrating the holidays and his memories, and it was also a little sad as I knew we had transitioned into a new stage. The best part of the evening was when he said that his dad and I were his best friends.

I guess in a way I am glad to be at this new stage, and I am even more glad to have a relationship with him where we can talk so openly. I am definitely feeling my way through this motherhood thing, but so far it has been the most wonderful blessing I could never have imagined!