Is Winnie the Pooh Real?

After dinner this evening the question of whether or not Winnie the Pooh was real came up. My three year old answered “yes” while my almost six year old said “no”. I thought this was interesting so I asked a bit more. "How do you know Winnie is real?" I asked my three year old and his answer was simply "because". He gave me a very big smile and walked away. To my six year old I asked, "How do you know he is not real?" His answer went something like this. "Winnie the Pooh is on the Disney channel and anything on the Disney channel is not real. And he is also in a book, not in real life. Maybe Christopher Robin is real but not Winnie. He is a bear you know."
It was a mouth full and hard to argue with, but I tried any way. I offered, "I think he is real because he has been around longer than me." This just got a lot of laughs. So I thought I would ask my six year old again, do you think he could be real? The answer was still no. There was no swaying that boy.
So I have to wonder, what happens between three and six? Well for starters, Winnie the Pooh goes from real to unreal with no doubt about it. Things start to cement, solidify and get very clear. I mean if it is on the Disney channel, it just can’t be real. These are words to live by. I guess this is a good thing. I mean, we can’t go around believing in walking, talking, honey loving bears forever can we? I guess I was kind of hoping we could. What is your vote? Winnie the Pooh, real or not real? I say real.