The Truth Revealed (Jenna Catches the Easter Bunny)

We have never emphasized the Easter Bunny at our house. In fact we have hardly ever even mentioned the Easter Bunny so as not to take away from the true meaning of Easter. We still do Easter baskets and dye eggs and have Easter egg hunts, but we don't say things like "Aren't you excited for the Easter Bunny to come tonight?" In fact when Jenna stumbled upon some candy in my closet and asked what it was for I told it was for the Easter baskets. She said, "I thought that the Easter Bunny filled our baskets!" I didn't affirm or deny that and when she asked Rick if the Easter bunny was real he just waved his hand and scoffed and said, "no." She refused to believe that and set out to write a letter to the Easter Bunny. 

She wanted a way to prove the Easter Bunny was real and Rick suggested that she set up a camera that would supposedly take pictures during the night if it detected any movements (as if that was a thing) to "reveal the truth." After she went to bed Rick thought it would be funny to have he and I pose for the pictures as if we had been "caught in the act." I know that sounds a little mean, but we decided at ten years old she should probably know the truth about the Easter Bunny and so we decided to go ahead. She was singing a duet with Rick in Sacrament meeting on Easter Sunday and so I told Rick not to show her the "the footage" until after church so as not to upset her right before her musical number (which was absolutely beautiful by the way!)

After church she asked to see the "footage" and we showed her. She burst into tears and ran into her room. I went in to hug her and she said that we had lied to her. She said, "That means nothing is real -- Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, nothing!!" Then she said "you could have at least taken a picture of a stuffed bunny or something!" I said, "Well wouldn't that be lying?" I explained that Jesus was real and that Easter was a time to remember and celebrate His atonement and resurrection. Of course she already knew all that but I guess she wasn't ready to give up the fun and magic of the rest.  Later we found that she had written little messages across her can of Stax potato chips such as "Easter Bunny not real," "All a lie," "Drawn (her spelling) away from my childhood," with pictures of frownie faces with tears coming down. She is so dramatic!! 

Precocious Jenna

I had to smile at this conversation yesterday between our very mature five year old and her Daddy (not wanting her to grow up so fast):

Rick: What are you going to do when you graduate from pre-school?

Jenna: Go to kindergarten.

Rick: What? You can't go to kindergarten!

Jenna: Dad, I'm FIVE.

Rick: No! Don't go!

Jenna: Don't you want me to be a mom? Don't you want me to go to College?

Rick: Well, yeah.

Jenna: THEN LET ME GROW!!

From kindergarten to college in one conversation -- our baby is just growing up way too fast!

Science Fair Winner!!

Jaiden (age 6) got FIRST PLACE in the Science fair in the first grade division!  Surprise, surprise!  She got a trophy, a ribbon, AND a T-shirt!  She was excited!  She also gets to go on to District.  Way to go, Jaiden!  She had a very simple project since we wanted an experiment that she could do on her own.  We  were actually a little surprised it won first place. Of course so much depends on the age group, the number of people participating, the presentation, and so forth.

But Janelle (age 8) was really sad because she didn't win anything with her project.  She won second place last year and so I think she was expecting to come away with something.  But there were TONS of amazing projects.  I would really hate to be the judge choosing between so many great ones.  We had a nice long mother/daughter talk about how the science fair and other competitions are provided so that students can get excited about learning something new.  

I reminded her of all of the fun we had making and flying the paper airplanes to see how far they would fly.  I pointed out that she learned how to apply the scientific method.  We talked about sharing in the joy of others when they win (even if we don't).  It is fun to win, but kids also learn by not winning. And while those disappointments can seem crushing at the time, it is all part of life and growing up. I just hope our children have a sense of worth that is not dependent on external factors but of knowing that they are loved and a child of God.

Tooth Fairy?

Jared came into my room this morning smugly clutching a tooth in his hand. "Now I have proof that the tooth fairy isn't real. I lost a tooth last night and didn't tell anyone and the tooth fairy didn't come!"

I explained to him that you have to tell mom or dad in order for us to pass the message along to the tooth fairy -- otherwise she doesn't know about it. He wasn't convinced. I then said, "But that's fine -- if you no longer want to earn any money from the tooth fairy, that is okay with me."

Silence.

We'll see if he lets us know next time he loses a tooth.

P.S. Apparently the kids are keeping track. Jared is just finishing third grade and this is this eighth tooth to fall out. Jase is just finishing fifth and has also only lost eight teeth. Janelle is finishing kindergarten and has already lost six. I think I'd prefer they lose them slowly so that they will have better brushing habits with their permanent teeth. Hopefully anyway.

Janika Funnies -- Precious Moments

Last Sunday Janika (age 4) came out all dressed in her church dress and tights and church shoes.  I was telling her how grown up she is getting and said “what am I going to do?  My little girl is just growing up so fast!”  She gave me a hug and said, “It’s okay momma, I will always be your daughter – just like you are still grandma’s daughter!” It was sweet even though it was actually my own words echoing back to me from a few weeks ago.   She had been asking if I would still be her mom when she grew up and left home and got married.  I had explained that I would always be her mom just like Grandma was my mom even though I am married and have kids. Today Janika added that I could always come to her birthday parties.