One of my favorite little dancers came into my office right before class and saw a Christmas Tinkerbell on my desk. She pointed to her and asked why I had her on my desk. I told her that Tinkerbell was going to help me decorate. The little one told me I was silly because Tinkerbell wasn't real. Thinking quickly, and remembering my Elf rant from last year, I told her that Tinkerbell can only move when no one is looking. She looked at me and said, "No way. She's not real. Why isn't she moving?" I told her that we were there looking at Tinkerbell so she couldn't fly. She wasn't convinced but let it go. We headed into the class room and she ran ahead of me to see her friends. I saw my chance and went over to her mom and asked if she would move Tinkerbell in my office while we were in class and quickly explained. She smiled and agreed.
After class, we all went to my office for stickers. As soon as we got in there, I looked around and asked where Tinkerbell was. The little girl looked and looked and found her across the office on a shoe box. Her eyes were as big as dinner plates and she looked up at me with these huge eyes and flushed cheeks and said, "She IS real!"
I know some of you are thinking "See, see, you hypocrite, you're using the Elf thing." Yes, I did use the Elf thing, but I didn't use it to bribe, I used it to keep a child innocent and childlike. Such a great feeling to keep some magic alive in these times of growing up too fast.
