Grand Slam question

We're getting ready for Christmas at the Carl household and I was reminded of this "blast from the past" from my son...Good times, Good times...

Last night my family and I splurged and went to Denny's for dinner.
I had been whining about wanting pancakes all week, my wife had worship team practice, and kids eat free on Tuesdays.

It was a perfect storm situation that had "Grand Slam" written all over it.

So we loaded up the Carl family cruiser (aka 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan, with a newly replaced windshield, after the Western NY snow load cracked the old one), and headed to Denny's for some food, and fellowship as a family.



Everything was going great, the kids were coloring, Bonnie and I were gazing into each other’s eyes (at Denny's...hmmm) and the waitress had just taken our order. It was shaping up to be a pretty awesome night.

Pretty awesome until my son, slid his placemat to me to read a freshly written question, complete with a YES or NO response section that demanded an answer...an answer right NOW.

If you can read first grade penmanship, take a look at the picture and you can tell exactly what he was asking his "always truthful, always trustworthy, Never deceitful...DADDY."

For those who are a little penmanship challenged...my boy asked me point blank, "IS SANTA REAL? YES or NO."

It was tough because I was just about to dig in to my grand slam when he wrote that question on the placemat and slid it over to me.

Of course there were kids everywhere because it was Kids eat free night.

So, I told him it was a cool story, and lots of fun, and then I started to eat my full stack.

He wouldn't let it go...He kept saying "daddy, is he real or not?" So finally I said, (in a low voice so as not to tip off the surrounding kids, and tick off the surrounding parents) "Christmas is about Jesus, buddy...Santa is just a small part of the story, and he's made up...Jesus is real though!"

He looked a little surprised at that (santa being made up, not the Jesus is real part), and then 2 seconds later was like "huh, ok...oooh Mozzarella sticks!"

When we got out of the danger zone, we explained a little more in depth, and told him that it's ok to play along with your other friends that believe in Santa...don't ruin it for them...that's their parents job...ha ha.

I told Bonnie later, that I felt bad for him...I remember when I found out the truth...that's one of the reasons why 8th grade was the worst year of my life.

Merry Christmas everyone!