Well, … I am the parent of an “almost” adult, and a preteen. I have putting it off for ages, but eventually, I had to be honest about the make believe aspect of childhood.
Mr11 was rearranging his room, to make space for another bed, for when his cousin visits. He came downstairs with his tooth fairy box, and said to me …. “I suppose I will throw this away” :O “this” was a tooth that had fallen out, but had failed to gain the attention of the tooth fairy, due to the extremely full life the tooth fairy has right now.
I put my arm around his shoulder …..
I said ……. “you know the deal about the tooth fairy don’t you?”. His response, was a very expressive eye roll, followed by …. “of course mum”.
I said …… “I expect you know the deal about Santa and the Easter Bunny too huh?” …. again with the eye roll.
He didn’t seem particularly worried about it. But I was sad, and I said so. See, because as adults we have to be … well grown up. We can’t immerse ourselves in fantasy and make believe like kids can ….. because we have to be sensible (although my mother says I was never actually a child). Giving up Santa, the easter bunny and the tooth fairy …. is letting go of a special sort of make believe for adults.
