Don't stop believing (please!)

Yesterday the kids were talking about who was oldest (Charlie claims that title by less than a minute).

I wasn't really paying much attention, but I heard someone disagree and say, "No, Mommy is the oldest in our family."

And then Joe retorted that Mommy is not the oldest person in the world though. He then wondered out loud whether that would be Jesus or Santa Claus, and asked me how old Santa Claus is.

That's when Charlie said that Santa Claus "isn't any old. Because there's no such thing as Santa Claus."

I can't believe it. He didn't ask whether Santa Claus is real. He just matter-of-factly stated it. The kid hasn't even been visited by the tooth fairy yet. He can't be old enough to stop believing.

I did the only thing I could think of in the situation. I started yelling at them all for sitting around and talking instead of doing the chores I had assigned to them.

That distracted them for the moment. But I guess we'll have to bring it up sometime so he doesn't ruin it for the rest of the kids. At least the little ones. Although I'm feeling the most sad for Joe -- I think he'd believe for another 10 years if Charlie would let him, but I don't think he will.