Bless children and their earnest, trusting hearts. Without kids, who would keep the idea of Santa Claus alive?
There's always a point, of course, at which most children find out that Santa Claus isn't real. That's exactly what makes this letter written by a kid, shared by Kinnell's father on Twitter, so heartbreaking, though:
In case you're having a hard time reading the letter, it says:
Dear Santa. I need some advice for how to make Pokemon real. Why do I need some advice because I can not get Pokemon out of my mind. I need a very good answer. If you have a answer please send a messag back
From Kinnell
According to the father, Kevin Fanning, Kinnell has been really torn up about this:
"In his mind he'd been sort of looking to a future where he envisioned himself being responsible enough to have a real Pokemon when he was 10," Fanning told me over email today. So what tipped his kid off? "I think he eventually had looked at it from enough angles that he realized, wait, I don't know any 10 year olds with Pokemon, and I never actually see Pokemon anywhere in the real world, oh my god they're not real, and he just started sobbing," Fanning told me.
"As a parent your prepare yourself for certain conversations you know you'll inevitably have with your kids some day: Santa, Easter Bunny, God, death, justice, whatever," Fanning explained in our email exchange. "But this one really struck my wife and I, this was a conversation we had not prepared for, and still honestly don't really know how to have with him. It was his idea to write to Santa for advice and we just kind of went with it. We haven't really figured out what if anything Santa might respond?"
Fanning said he's unsure of how to have a 'Pokemon aren't real' type of conversation with his son, especially in the face of wanting to preserve a sense of wonder for him.
"I wish there was some other way through this conversation with my son, and I guess posting his letter was my way of asking for ideas," Fanning said.
All I can say is...