Replacing Santa Claus

Last year Emily asked if Santa were real. This signaled to Alicia and I the coming of the end of the myth for her. In the conversation at the time, I asked her what she believed and then encouraged her generally to believe in things that are good. It's a sort of optimism that I believe is healthy. The next step of that is to believe and hope for things that are not only good but true. If a childhood belief of a benevolent giver of good gifts can lead to a maturing faith in He who is the source of all hope in this life then it's a good thing.

So today Alicia and I told her the truth about Santa and hopefully pointed her in the right direction for where she can put her hope in the future. It's sort of a rite of passage that she's gone through. She's growing up