"Mom, is Santa real?"
My hand immediately stopped stirring the potatoes for dinner and my mouth gaped open in surprise. I stared at my 7-year-old who asked this point-blank question for the first time ever.
"Of course Santa's real, we see him at the mall!" Graham exclaimed.
RJ didn't even look at Graham, he was staring at me. I realized my reaction was telling more than anything else, so I quickly came up with, "It sounds like you have some grown-up questions about Santa that you and I should discuss alone sometime."
"Okay," he said.
I've been expecting this question for a couple of years. In fact, I had just talked to my sister earlier that day asking how her kids found out about Santa. And RJ's been asking lots of tough questions about the big guy for a while, such as "How does Santa live at the North Pole when it melts during the summer?" and "Does the North Pole Express really go all the way to the North Pole, or do they just pretend like it?"
I thought I would be relieved when he found out because then I wouldn't have to work so hard to cover it up. But I wasn't. I was surprised at how disappointed I felt when I heard that question. I wish I had gotten one last Christmas in before he found out.
That night (before RJ and I were able to talk) I asked Rubin what I should say.
"Just lie to him," he said. I really don't know why I ask his advice sometimes.
The next day RJ asked me to talk. When we were alone I asked him why he wondered if Santa was real. He said he's been wondering for a while and then Enoch at school told him Santa was fake (the next time I see that Enoch kid...). I then asked what he thought.
"Well I want him to be real, but I don't think he is," he said.
We talked about how it's fun to believe there is magic in the world and how that meant he needed to let his brothers and other kids at school keep believing in that magic until they were ready to know the truth.
So far this talk was kind of a downer, but then I was touched to say something else.
"Well, maybe Santa isn't real, but Jesus Christ is. And there are still miracles (what some people might call magic) happening all the time! Jesus Christ walked on water, healed the sick, and rose from the dead. An uneducated 14-year-old boy prayed and saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in a forest. Miracles and magic are still alive through the gospel."
We talked about a few of the miracles we knew about from the scriptures, prophets, and our own lives. It was a good talk and left me feeling happy. I was glad for this discussion to remind me that magic is real and to recognize the miracles in our own lives.
But I'm still gonna punch that Enoch kid in the nose the next time I see him!
