Tell me the truth, Mom…
So, Owen kept hinting around today and talking about the “Easter bunny.” I could tell he was really close to just asking me The Question...if he was real or not. Tonight, the older boys played video games in the basement and Owen, our youngest, snuggled up and watched a movie with Drew & I.
After it was over, he looked at us and said, “Guys. I’m gonna ask you a question and I want you to be 100% honest with me.” Drew & I looked at each other and we both knew what it was going to be.
“Does the Easter bunny really come fill our baskets or is it you guys?” His little voice cracked, his eyes welled up with tears as if he was hoping we’d tell him what he wanted to hear.
I said, “What do you think? What do you believe?” He said, “I want to believe the Easter bunny is magic and real, who brings kids candy & surprises and I want to believe it’s true.” We kept at this for a few minutes but in the end, we explained the whole truth. He was sad, heartbroken and tears came down those rosy cheeks of his and he just said, “I’m sad because I wanted to believe in magic. I wanted so much to believe it was true.” I was just waiting for him to ask about Santa...and I think he was about to, but I know deep-down his little heart wants so badly to believe it, that he doesn’t dare ask that one too tonight. And I don’t think this mommas heart could take it, you guys🤦🏼♀️
What’s interesting is that we’ve never really made a big deal about the Easter bunny. We have an egg hunt, we get baskets full of plastic grass and plastic eggs and trinkets & candy, but we don’t make it a focus of the holiday. We keep the focus on Jesus. But as I’m sitting here, I’m realizing that this 9-year-old little boy of mine is experiencing and living through one of the most trying periods in our worlds’ collective history.
The news is heavy and scary.
Missing school for the rest of the year is heavy.
Not seeing any of his friends, classmates or teacher in person is hard.
Not getting hugs and visits with extended family is really hard.
Watching his Mom wipe down groceries or watching his Dad put on a mask to go to work has to be frightening.
Trying to understand what all is going on today is scary and the uncertainty he likely feels from even his Dad and I, his brothers—I know it’s a lot for a little kid to carry and absorb.
So, when he finds out that some of the ‘magic’ of childhood he wanted so badly to be true isn’t, well, it kinda breaks my heart.
I know we are raising resilient kids. I know this generation will have incredible stories to tell their grandkids someday. But I also know the truth & reality can be hard and scary, and it’s okay to want to believe in magic and the Easter bunny and in Santa a little bit longer. It’s okay to want to stay little for just a little bit longer.
And it’s okay to be sad when we realize we’re growing up.
For now, I’m still going to fill up his Easter basket with candy and trinkets and I know it will bring big smiles to his face in the morning. Even though he knows the truth, it’s good to know he still wants and yearns to believe in the magic of childhood. ♥️
Take care, friends,
Sarah