So, this is third grade....

Armpit hair.
Apparently third graders have it.
To be more accurate, one third grade girl has sprouted two armpit hairs, according to Julie.
I don't think it ever occurred to Julie before that girls grow armpit hair.
But, she was intrigued as she relayed the story of a girl in her class who is "smaller than Johnny" and has exactly two hairs on her left armpit. She wondered when she might get some.


I'm so not ready for this.

This summer, it was still Barbie dolls and stuffed animals, and she dreamed about owning a magic wand.

Then third grade happened.

Before the armpit incident, Julie came home and informed me that there was another reason she really didn't like One Direction.

"They have tattoos on their privates!" she practically spit out with disgust. "They are just gross."

What do you even say to that?

And it's not even all this puberty stuff that has me rankled about third grade.
It's just the loss of innocence in general.

Our little girl is so beautifully naïve and imaginative. It hurts thinking that might all go away sometime very soon.

"Mommy do you believe in leprechauns?" Julie asked me last week. A girl in her class had presented an "All about Me" collage to the class, and pasted on the collage were pictures of her favorite things, including Santa, mermaids and leprechauns.
Let me preface this by saying, we believe in EVERYTHING in our house. I mean EVERYTHING. There's of course Santa and the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. But, there's also our Elf on the Shelf, a Christmas Angel and our mischievous leprechaun.

"I know we have a Leprechaun, but Taylor doesn't believe in leprechauns or SANTA!!" Julie told me about one of her third grade buddies. "I definitely believe in Santa, but I'm not sure about leprechauns, and I know there aren't any mermaids."

So, here's the dilemma. If all the sudden I spill the beans about the leprechaun, and tell her it's really Mommy and Daddy who make a mess and leave Lucky Charms outside their bedrooms---that would just blow the whole thing. If there aren't leprechauns, how can there be fairies or elves or Santa?

I realize our days our numbered. It's probably not healthy to enter middle school believing in pixie dust and she needs to understand life's realities sooner or later.

But, can't it be later? Can I please have one more innocent, magical year?
Third grade--Please take it easy on me.