Alexis believes most anything I tell her.
She depends on me to ... teach her.
She depends on me to ... guide her.
She depends on me to ...
Tell her the truth.
And ...
Most of the time ...
I do.
Tell her the truth.
But ...
Sometimes ...
I can't help myself.
Like the other day ...
When ...
Little Billy came home from one of his out-exploring-the-world afternoons and brought home this ...
"Well ... it's a unicorn horn - of course," I tell Alexis, in response to her question whilst standing in our kitchen.
"But ... are they supposed to be all scaly like that," she reaches over and touches the scaly horn.
I shake my head most confidently, "Why yes - that is how they look when they fall off. And when they fall off ... all the unicorn glitter falls off too - leaving them looking like this," I am smiling a big smile, all the while looking into my darling girl's adorable face.
She is a little excited now.
Excited by the fact that we - she and I - are in possession of a REAL LIVE UNICORN HORN - right in the middle of our kitchen - sitting right there on the kitchen table. She can't stop smiling.
But then ... she does stop smiling for just a moment and says, "Is there really such a thing as unicorns?" I don't know what took her so long to ask.
So ... what do I say?
Do I wiggle my way out of this fantasy discussion?
Do I confess to my ridiculous lies and tell the sweet child the truth?
Or ...
Do I continue with the pretense?
Continue to try to make Alexis believe there are in fact unicorns and they live right in our neighborhood - right near our house?
Yes ...
I lie!
I say ...
"Well ... here's it's horn - isn't it?"
On the upside ... While Alexis and I were happily discussing our unicorn theories in the kitchen ... in the living room - was Little Billy - SCREAMING, "IT'S AN ARMADILLO TAIL! IT'S AN ARMADILLO TAIL AND ...WASH YOUR HANDS AFTER YOU TOUCH IT, BECAUSE DAD SAYS IT CAN HAVE A DISEASE THAT WILL MESS UP YOUR FACE!"
Poor Alexis .......... I'm pretty sure she was better off believing it was a unicorn's horn - yep!