And The Answer Is.....

Although having a 6 month old is challenging (yes, he's 6 months now - wah...), I'll take his crying fits and dirty diapers over the CSI-style questioning my daughter has been subjecting me to lately. These are questions to which I have no idea how to answer without shattering her dreams or completely horrifying her. You'll see what I mean.

Today she had a series of questions about Santa Claus. In our house, Miss Sassypants still believes in the big guy. I'm glad because it's such a magical experience for her and the longer we can continue the charade, the better. Don't get me wrong, if she's 18 and still waiting for Old St. Nick to come down the chimney, my parenting skills should be questioned. But as I see it, a few more years can't hurt.

Today she asked me: "What happens if Santa dies? Do they have a replacement? And is Santa born like in a mom's tummy, or does he just appear?" As far as I know, there's no manual in the world that tells you how to answer these types of questions. (Look into that and get back to me if there is.) And to be fair, these are really good questions. Considering that I'm lying to her about the entire Santa situation, I just said: "you know, what? That's a good question! Nobody ever told me either. Maybe you should ask Santa next year." Ha! I feel sorry for the old mall Santa who gets those drilling questions. Might make him spit up his eggnog. But in parenting, passing the buck is always a valid option.

While we're on the subject of Santa, we might as well talk about the stork. I've never used the stork story with Miss Sassypants. I've been pretty honest to her about where babies come from. The way I explained it is that the daddy has a seed and the mom has an egg and they mix together in the mommy's tummy and the baby grows in there. I'm extremely grateful that she's never asked me about how the egg and seed get in the mommy's tummy. I'm still surprised she's never asked. That's so unlike her to leave any stone unturned. If it does come up, I may have to revert to the stork, cabbage patch or download theories. 

I guess the question for us parents is how much information is too much information, and at what age are certain things appropriate? I want her to know where babies come from because it's important to know the truth, but how much do you reveal? And if I'm telling her the truth about babies, why am I lying to her about Santa? Again, if you find that manual, email me :) Being a parent is flippin' hard.

Better go. The baby is screaming (again), the cat just threw up on the carpet and I need to apply another coat of ointment to my eye which is suffering from a fourth bout of pink eye. Miss Sassypants brought it home from school a few months ago and I can't seem to get rid of it completely. Threw out the makeup, washed my pillow cases, disinfected everything from light switches to phones to computers. I'm about to poke my eyes out with a fork.