A Big Milestone For A Big Kid

Today is one of the milestones that every parent simultaneously loves and hates: the day that the kids discover the truth about Santa.  Hannah has been suspicious for a while now and has asked a few times in the past two years if Santa was real.  Each time, I asked her what she thought, and she told me "I think he's real" and I would respond "well there you go."  This year, she pushed further and when I asked what she thought, she said she wanted to know what I thought.  We always said when the kids were old enough to truly ask, they were old enough to know.  A boy named Sam had told her that he videotaped (?) the tree to see if Santa was real and found that it was his parents.  She has argued with kids in the past about whether Santa was real or not, but I guess this got her thinking about it, and instead of arguing with him, she came to ask me.  Although I wish she maybe believed just a little longer, I don't think almost 8 is too young to know (I found out at 5), so I told her the truth: Mommy and Daddy are the ones who fill the stockings and put gifts under the tree.  However, it is because St Nick was a real person who filled children's stockings with gifts to remind them of the gift of Jesus.  I also told her that now that she knows, she's part of the big kids and gets to help.  She's already very excited for Easter, when she gets to help.  I love her heart.  My baby is growing up!