Shed a Tear for the Magic (Christmas spoiler alert!!)

So, last year Paige got an Elf on the Shelf as a birthday present, which put me in the position of having to welcome an Elf into our home.  I am not a fan of the Elf on the Shelf.  Don't we have enough to do already?  However, Paige was super excited and I didn't want to let her down.  So during the Christmas season last year, we had "Candy Cane" our elf showing up every night.

Fast forward to this year, as December is approaching, Paige is eagerly anticipating the arrival of her elf.  She asks me when I think Candy Cane will come back.  I tell her it will be soon.  Well, Paige being the inquisitive person she is, decided to google Elf on the Shelf to see if there was specific day that she comes back.  Uh, oh!  What she reads about on Elf on the Shelf is shocking!

She comes to me and tells me that it says, "parents move the elf around!"  "Is that true?"

Now, there are a few problems, to name two:

1) I am not prepared for this.  I am caught a little off guard.
2) I do not like Elf on the Shelf and am probably predisposed to any way to get out of doing it.

Soooo, without really thinking it ALL the way through, I give it to her straight.  She is shocked and sadly says, and I mean sadly, "I thought she was real."

Of course, Dave being wiser than me says, "you know what this is going to lead to, right?"

And not 10 minutes later, Paige comes back and asks about Santa.   Shoot!

All I can say, is that it was sad.  She even shed a few tears, not all out upset but just sad.  This made me  so sad.  I knew this was coming, she had asked about it a few times in the weeks before, so it was probably time, but I wasn't quite ready.  AND I COMPLETELY BLAME IT ON THAT STUPID ELF!  Curse you elf!

Anyway, she did say, that she wanted to know and was glad we told her but I definitely felt the loss of the magic and innocence in a way that I didn't feel with Ashley.  Maybe because Ash was a year older, I was more ready and of course, Paige is our last child, so Christmas won't be the same anymore.

Honestly, Paige seemed to get over it quickly.  I was a little melancholy and sad for a few days, wishing I could have a redo, but life moves on.  Christmas was different this year, but it was still special, just in a different way.

And for the record, it was probably a good thing this was my gaffe and not Dave's otherwise, I'd probably still be holding it against him.  Thank goodness he is so forgiving and was so tender with Paige.