A PARENTAL DILEMMA!

Yesterday I was hit by a question that I hoped would not raise its little head until at least November of 2010.

My nine year old son (just nine) asked me "is Father Christmas real". At the time he asked I had a mouth full of tea which I nearly spat out at such a force that the tea would have hit Wales from here in Suffolk.

Now that was a question that I was completely unprepared for. After controlling the mouth full of tea in an appropriate manner, swallowing rather than spitting it out, I panicked and just smiled at him. What a big mistake to make! Straight away he was off " I knew he wasn't real, you were just lying about him".

Well now I was in deeper than before. How do I get out of this one. It is March not November, I had no 'plan of action' on how to reply to the question. I urgently needed help to get out of this situation.

Thinking fast I asked him "what do you think?". That through the ball back into his court! I expected him to reply " I think he is real". I could have gone along with that and the problem would have been resolved. But no his reply was "I think you are lying" Great,the problem was back in my court!

I thought I would be clever and I asked " well how do think your Christmas presents get here then?". He replied "you and Daddy put them in the lounge, and Grandma and Grandad bring theirs when they come to stay with us".

The conversation went on and on. Then I finally did the one thing I swore I would never do and said "ask your Dad"...and off he went.

I am not quite sure what Dad's reply was but my son came back about ten minutes later and asked " is the Easter Bunny real then?"

So what do I do. Tell the truth that will break his heart or continue with the'lying' (as he calls it).

What a dilemma!

MR B'S PARLIAMENT

I saw this picture today and thought it was quite amusing!