DON'T TELL

When Sweet Neighbor Girl and Trouble #1 were over at Casa de la Flaming Bore this morning to exchange Christmas presents, she followed me into the kitchen, grabbed one of my arms, tugged me into the bedroom, and quietly said, "I've got something important I have to tell you." 

I braced for the worst and quickly thought of all the terrible possibilities: an illness, family problems, a move out of town, another dead pet.  What earth shattering news was I about to hear?

"Do you know that there's not really a Santa Claus?" she said. "My Mom told me there actually isn't one and we just pretend like there is."

"Well, Santa Claus is still kind of like a spirit who represents happiness and how it's good to give to others," I said.  "His spirit is real."

"We're not supposed to tell Kalim (her brother)," she added.

"Oh, I won't. It's a secret with me."

And with that relief out of the way, we went back to putting up some magnet art on the freezer...a snowman and a Santa Claus. Don't tell anyone, but they are just decorations and aren't the real deal.