Losing Fairyland...

As a result of Josh getting in several fights with his friends about whether or not Star Wars is real, (Josh is sure that it is and he wants to be a Jedi when he grows up), Justin strongly suggested that I should tell Josh that it really isn't real.  Currently I just give Josh my shocked face when he tells me things like, "Tyler doesn't think Star Wars is real, what is he thinking?!"

Justin's thoughts on the matter:  My son is going to be made fun of at school for not knowing the difference between pretend and reality.  Then he'll be scarred and wonder why we didn't tell him the truth.

My thoughts:  I love that my sweet baby thinks everything from Transformer land, to Spiderman land is real.  Tears welling in my eyes.  He's not big enough to worry about it yet.  I remember reading Anne of Green Gables and being so sad when the characters outgrew fairyland.  I love his imagination etc etc.

However, after Justin's suggestion I started to feel a little bit guilty.  So at dinner tonight Josh started talking about being a Jedi when he grows up, and I said, "Hey bud, I have to tell you something, you know that Star Wars is just pretend right?"  

Josh - totally shocked face.  

Justin, "where did that come from?"  I'm sure my teary eyes and defensive attitude were in his mind. 

 I continue frantically, not wanting all the magic to be lost, "It's one of my favorite stories though, isn't it so fun to pretend about it?  We can still pretend about it, and go to that world in our imaginations.."something along those lines anyway.  Josh thinks about it and then says, "Then I will be the FIRST Jedi!"

I love my boy!  Then he and his Dad spent the next 10 minutes deciding how they would design a light saber and who he would use it against if there wasn't really a Darth Vader. The conclusion: some kind of a laser combined with magic bombs- and there will always be bad guys to use it on.

I love that he can get so lost in a story and another world, I  know just how he feels....

PS I am really really really sick of pretend fighting Darth Vader though.  I discovered if I try to really visualize him it helps, but I'm still sick of it...