time flies, elf edition

It was bound to happen.

He kept up the charade as long as he could.


Charlie finally admitted to me that he no longer believes in the jolly man in

the red suit.



He actually quit believing 'at least a year ago', but, as he put it, he was

'protecting me', as he knew 'how important' it was to me.  For crying

out loud!  He was even in cahoots with Mike last year, and admitted he

knew the gig was up, but he didn't want me to feel bad.


I kind of went all out with the Santa thing.  Mostly because I wanted to

relive the magic, and the mystery.  And listen for sleigh bells in the frosty

air of  Christmas Eve.  When I was little, I would rub a spot on the frozen

windshield in the car, on the way home from my grandparent's house, and

imagine I could see the tiny red dot that was Rudolph's nose as he led the

sleigh through the cold dark night.


So when Charlie came along, I was in full-on Santa mode.  We wrote letters

and made a big deal of delivering them.  He sat on Santa's lap when he was

younger (not just any Santa, I made sure to do a tour of the malls to see

which one was the most authentic.  I was quite fond of the Burnsville mall

Santa, the Southdale Santa fit the bill one year).  We would put together

the special tray of goodies on Christmas Eve, including carrots for the

reindeer. I worked hard to keep the magic alive. There was a dedicated roll

of wrapping paper, hidden in the far depths of my closet, that was used only

for Santa gifts. Sometimes Santa left Charlie a note, and I had to disguise

my handwriting.


The best part was the small blue elf, that magically arrived in our house on

December 1st, and each day moved to a different spot to keep a watchful

eye on Charlie.  It was a wonderful disciplinary tool, Charlie was never so

well behaved as when I reminded him that the elf was watching.  I am sure

this will come up in therapy in the future.  Especially since he used to talk

to the elf when he was younger....


And now someone has gone and marketed the idea, "Elf on the Shelf", and

there is an accompanying storybook as part of the set.  Dang, the money I

could have made....


Last night, as I was pulling out the boxes of Christmas decorations, Charlie

asked where the elf was.  Of course, he is hidden in my sock drawer.  I

would never put him with the rest of the decorations, what if Charlie found

it?  He gently reminded me that it was time to let the elf go live with

someone else now.

Criminy.