Youngest Son Duped Long Enough

Don’t read this column if you are ten years or younger. You have been fairly warned. This column contains confidential information you may not want to be exposed to. So stop reading if you’re hung up on the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and/or Santa Claus. My three boys have each at different times in their lives come to terms with the reality or unreality of the aforementioned characters. The youngest Stroupe, now ten years old, still doesn’t want to fully admit that he’s reached some obvious conclusions. The Stroupes just finished celebrating the Easter holiday season as usual. We have consistently celebrated the “secular” aspects of it over the years while attempting to emphasize the importance of the spiritual aspects. This typically meant that I had to get up around six in the morning on Easter before Sunrise service and hide colored eggs in nooks and crannies throughout our yard. I know you’re supposed to enjoy and soak in all these aspects of this stage of parenthood, but I never really liked the whole hide the eggs deal. It’s hard to come up with new hiding places each year. And invariably there’s one rebel egg nobody can find and I can’t remember where I hid it. I usually find it with the lawn mower later. Fortunately for me, this year my middle son decided he wanted to get up and do the hiding. “Have at it,” said his parents. And he did. His little brother was well aware he’d been duped but didn’t seem to mind. A few months back (sometime last fall) my youngest chap made a confession to me while we were riding along in my truck. His exact words were, “Dad, I know the Easter Bunny is fake, and I know the Tooth Fairy is fake, but I’m still 50/50 on Santa. The problem is, I’ve puzzled it all out and it just doesn’t add up.” Then Christmas came along and all of a sudden he was a die-hard believer again. But deep down he knew I knew he knew. The end was near. Riding along in our family car on Easter Sunday, it all came crashing down. With the whole family present, the older brothers finally got the youngest to admit he was wise to the whole Santa, Bunny, and Tooth Fairy deal. The oldest son claimed he realized the Tooth Fairy was a sham when he only got one dollar under his pillow and the rich kid at school got a five dollar bill. How that trade teeth for money bit got started I don’t know but I’ve never quite understood it. One of our neighbor kids won’t sleep in the room with his brother when the brother loses a tooth. He says he doesn’t want somebody sneaking in and out of his room at night while he’s asleep. I’m with the kid on that one. My oldest son remembers me telling him about the Bunny by holding up one of his little brothers’ folded up dirty diapers around Easter time and saying, “Here’s your cottontail and the present’s inside.” (I don’t remember that incident but everyone else seems to.) Anyway, the point is that the jig’s up now. All good things must come to an end. It was fun while it lasted. Sort of.