They Grow Up and Break Your Heart

My oldest daughter discovered the secret last year behind the "tooth fairy" when she was only 6 years old. At the same time she questioned me about Santa but I did a good job of distracting her hoping she would forget all about it. No such luck. Last week she says "Mom. Is Santa dead?" To which I replied "Well there was a man that gave gifts to kids and he got the name St. Nick or Santa Claus." She thought for a minute and said "Well there is no such thing as magic and he couldn't still be alive. I figure since you and Dad are the tooth fairy you are probably Santa too." I took a deep breath and instead of bursting into tears I said "Maybe you could go talk to your Dad about this." and talk she did. She took it pretty well. Later I asked her about it and she said "It's alright Mom, I understand. And I won't tell sissy. I have been good about the tooth fairy right?" Wow. It's just that I thought we could do the Santa thing for awhile still. She's getting older and smarter every minute and I can't stop it. Not that I want to, at least not all the time. She used to ask me questions that were easy to answer but now it's a whole different ball game!! At least the baby still believes. For now. But she is working on not sucking her thumb and as much as I want her to stop there is a part of me that longs for the days when she would sit on my lap, thumb in mouth and fall fast asleep. She said "Mom I am betting bigger now. I didn't suck my thumb at all." These are just the beginning steps of their life long journey that will eventually lead them out of my house.