I was thinking today about Father Christmas and other lies we tell our children
My eldest showed his first signs of normality around the age of 6. He questioned it. Aged 7, he thought FC didn't exist, but didn't want to risk fewer presents by admitting it. At 8, he was getting braver.
The other one was a little slower on the uptake. Aged 9 was still talking about him, and I still didn't own up.
When he was in Year 6 (aged 10), he was adamant that not only did he exist, but he'd seen him
He told his fellow chums at school. Obviously they told him otherwise. His teacher decided to turn it into a lesson on standing up for what you believe in. A great lesson, but just made Andrew even more determined to tell everyone they were mistaken
He came home and told me. His teacher also believed in FC, so he knew the dear old man existed.
I felt it was time to break the bad news. He was mortified. He told me that he had trusted me, I had lied to him. I had never lied to him....how could I...why??
I felt awful.
On the other hand, the tooth fairy was totally unbelievable. The darn woman was always late or had forgotten She would slip a coin under his pillow when he was cleaning his teeth. Sometimes she would forget to take the tooth or leave the wrong amount.
Rarely a letter of apology or anything.
I sacked her! Told Andrew that if she wasn't going to do the job properly, I might as well give him the money for the tooth! Fairies are all the same. Too busy chucking dust over themselves and chatting up the elves. They just haven't got their minds on the job.
In hindsight, had FC been a little more unreliable, I could have sacked him too.
So...do I put the mincepie and carrot out this year? Last year (aged 13) he still wanted me to
Did any of you have to break the news gently or did your children just happen to realise it all alone?
My eldest showed his first signs of normality around the age of 6. He questioned it. Aged 7, he thought FC didn't exist, but didn't want to risk fewer presents by admitting it. At 8, he was getting braver.
The other one was a little slower on the uptake. Aged 9 was still talking about him, and I still didn't own up.
When he was in Year 6 (aged 10), he was adamant that not only did he exist, but he'd seen him
He told his fellow chums at school. Obviously they told him otherwise. His teacher decided to turn it into a lesson on standing up for what you believe in. A great lesson, but just made Andrew even more determined to tell everyone they were mistaken
He came home and told me. His teacher also believed in FC, so he knew the dear old man existed.
I felt it was time to break the bad news. He was mortified. He told me that he had trusted me, I had lied to him. I had never lied to him....how could I...why??
I felt awful.
On the other hand, the tooth fairy was totally unbelievable. The darn woman was always late or had forgotten
She would slip a coin under his pillow when he was cleaning his teeth. Sometimes she would forget to take the tooth or leave the wrong amount.Rarely a letter of apology or anything.
I sacked her! Told Andrew that if she wasn't going to do the job properly, I might as well give him the money for the tooth! Fairies are all the same. Too busy chucking dust over themselves and chatting up the elves. They just haven't got their minds on the job.
In hindsight, had FC been a little more unreliable, I could have sacked him too.
So...do I put the mincepie and carrot out this year? Last year (aged 13) he still wanted me to
Did any of you have to break the news gently or did your children just happen to realise it all alone?
