Doubting Ellie

Ellie:  "Mom, do you lie?"
Me: "No" (lie) "Why?"
Ellie: "Because if I ask you if you move Christoper Pop-In Kins and you say no, and you don't lie, he must move by himself."

She's struggling.  The other day she pointed out that the back of his ear was green, like his hat.  He has a tag.  He looks plastic.  Thank God for Toy Story!  I explained that Christopher is like Woody and Buzz.  He's like a toy when you're not around, but when you leave, he comes to life.  This seemed to appease her.  It definitely worked for Vince, who touched him the other day, making him leave and go back to the North Pole.  V was very upset and I don't think his little fingers will come within a foot of Christopher again. 



Let me back up.  If you're not familiar with Christopher Pop-In Kins, he's a version of Elf on the Shelf.  The story is that he's from the North Pole.  He comes to your house after Thanksgiving to watch you and report back to Santa.  He can't be touched by kids or his magic wears off and he has to go back to the North Pole for a few days.  He moves around the house when the kids are asleep.  (Spoiler Alert: I do it! I move him!  He's really just a doll with bendy arms and legs that came with a book.)

I already ruined things for Caden because I didn't find a good enough hiding spot for him last year.  I tossed him in the top of the hall closet, and Caden found him a few months ago when he was looking for the cases for his Wii games.  He wasn't really shocked and I told him that I needed him to be a big brother and play along for the little kids.  He wavers.  Sometimes he's really good about it, like when Christopher fell and he came to get me, with Vince, to put him back up.  He played along really well for Vince and even gave me a Caden-version of a wink when Vince wasn't looking.  On the other hand, he's constantly tormenting Ellie that he's going to touch Christopher, and he does every once in awhile.  I try to ignore it and not make a big deal about it, trying not to feed to the drama.  Ellie creates enough of that on her own.

So I'm getting to the point where Santa is going to come into question.  I've been dreading this since Caden was born.  It's so sad to lose the magic of Santa.  I still remember the Christmas after I first stopped believing.  It was so different Christmas morning.  There was just something missing and it just *felt* different.  It was a little sad, like I'd lost a little bit of Christmastime.  I want to postpone that for my kids as long as possible.  I KNOW that I can keep Caden from telling the others simply by saying if you don't believe in Santa, he won't bring you gifts.  That's enough for Caden.  But I don't want him to stop believing either.  He's in second grade now, and I know his time is running out.  The kids that still believed in 3rd grade were few and far between.  This may be his last year.  He hasn't said much about it, which is suspect.  He's not Ellie.  She asks me AT LEAST once a day about Christopher Pop-In Kins.  I know Santa's not far behind.  I think I may have to go the extra mile this year and try something special to "prove" that Santa exists- before next year, when Ellie asks me if I lie. (Sorry Elle.  It's for your own good!)