The Near Death Experience of Tinkerbell

As anyone who reads this or knows me is aware, my kids are little. 5,4 and 4 respectively. So we still live in a very safe, protected land. Things are still magical and no wonder is too big to be true.
There is Santa, there is a tooth fairy, there is an Easter Bunny.

There is Tinkerbell.

Except that, I almost killed her the other night.

I walked into the middle of a conversation between Lil Satchmo and The Husband, and the words "Is Tinkerbell REAL or not?" were hanging in the air over Lil Satchmo's head. The Husband blinked, looked at me, and said "This one is all yours."

The big boy followed me in to change his brothers, as I tried to calmly explain that Tinkerbell is a character from Peter Pan. It was making me sad, watching his little face as I told him the truth about Tink....when he blurts out "But Mom, she had a vacation house outside our door in Tampa."

And I started to cry. He continues to describe this house to me."It had a door and windows, I remember it. It was a house. It was her vacation house - remember?"

He is remembering THIS.

And I started to cry harder. He's only FIVE. Do I REALLY have to tell him Tinkerbell isn't real? Why does it freaking MATTER?

At that point the husband then rescued me, and explained to him that there are many things in the world that we don't understand and that Tinkerbell COULD be one of them.

Lil Satchmo explained to me, later, after I had stopped crying - that he knew she was real because we always used to watch her fly off of the top of the castle at Magic Kingdom. So he knows she is real.

Tink, you get to live another day.