Hop!

My kids are both completely different.  While one takes everything literally and doesn't understand imaginary games, the other has his head in an imaginary world...CONSTANTLY!

But, the one thing they both can agree on, is that Magic exists.  They don't question Santa or their elf and they fully believe their stuffies are real animals.  Big believes them to be real because he can't imagine why anyone would ever lie or make up something that wasn't real.  Small believes they are real because he just really wants to believe that they are.

When Chippy (their elf), left this year at Christmas time, Small was VERY sad.  He didn't want CHristmas to come because he didn't want Chippy to leave.  It was so disheartening to see him so upset about Christmas coming!!!  Who can be sad about Christmas????  To boost his spirits, I came up with a brilliant plan.  I decided that Chippy should leave the kids one of his friends and they could send messages to Chippy year long through them.

Enter a bunny stuffy (Hop) for Small and a dog stuffy (Charizard) for Big

They love their stuffies.  They tuck them into their beds every day before they go to school.  Small hugs his bunny constantly, feeds it, pets it.  He takes very good care of Hop!  It's adorable really!

One day, he found a spot where the tag was cut off of Hop.  He asked me what it was.  In a weak moment, I said, "Probably where his tag was, buddy!"  He just shook his head and said, "But Hop's real!  Real bunnies don't have tags!"
My response?  "I meant it was a Skin Tag, buddy!"

Gotta be quick on your feet for this mom gig, I tell you!!

So the other day, Small was outside with his bunny and one of the kids ripped one of Hop's ears.  Awwww, poor Small!  He was really crushed!  He was horrified that someone would hurt Hop!

Big decided they should send a letter home to CHippy to see how they could help him feel better.  They wrote a letter together that basically asked CHippy if Hop was going to be ok and they wanted to know when Hop's and Charizard's birthdays are.  They even left a spot on the back for Chippy to RSVP.

Then Small set Hop up with a carrot ("It's a long way to the North Pole!  He'll need some food for his trip!") and the letter and then they waited.

The next day, they got a letter back from Chippy!  It was almost like Christmas!!  In Aug!!!

Chippy had responded that Hop was going to be just fine and that they were taking very good care of him.  He also responded that their birthdays were on the EXACT same days as their birthdays...That's why they were chosen for them.

Now, I have to say, I felt like a massive genius for coming up with THAT plan!  Man!  The thought of having to remember 2 more random birthdays...way to easy to mess that up!

Only, after reading the letter, Small's first response was..."So, how is he??"   Dammit!  I forgot to include a birth year!  "I guess elves and magic animals don't have an age!"

Nice save, mommy!!!

Enter in daddy....After telling him the whole story about the birthdays and how genius I am for choosing the same birthdays as the kids, his first question was, "So how old are they???"

Dammit!  Not you too!!!