Believe.

On Christmas Eve my sweet husband, his father and brothers conjured up an upclose and personal sighting of Rudolf for my kids. Running in the house, out of breath and in a panic, Uncle Blake shouted, "You guys! You won't believe it! We were coming home from the store just now and we saw Rudolf!! He is right down the street! Get in the truck quick!"... Entertained and amused at his enthusiasm we grabbed blankets, hurried the kids out into the cold and onto the back of the pick-up. Just down the road we came to a bend, and as we rounded the corner I about lost it. Those boys had taken the enormous, mounted Elk Head that Tyler's grandpa had shot (hunted) off of the garage wall and stuck it in a mound of snow off in the distance. I could barely makeout my husband hunched down behind it holding a red light up to it's nose and IT LOOKED REAL!! The kids were stoked. Especially Luke. They were serious about getting straight to bed after that. And I couldn't believe how well the men had pulled it off.

Anyway, yesterday at school Luke's teacher asked each student to share their favorite part of the Christmas break. Despite all of the wonderful things he did, including losing two teeth, Luke chose to share that he saw Rudolf in his grandma's neighborhood on Christmas Eve. That was his single favorite thing to share. And SOME PUNK KID said to him, in front of everyone, something along the lines of, "That's not true! Rudolf's fake and so is Santa. My mom and dad don't want to lie to me so they told me that!" Luke came home quiet and ultimately in tears about it and wanted to know if I believe in Rudolf and if he is real.

Fortunately, we had riden the Polar Express the night before and I was able to salvage the magic - and we are both still believers. But it was so sad that he was embarrassed.