Messin' with the Tooth Fairy

My daughter lost her 2^nd top front tooth Sunday while at a friend’s house. We lovingly put it into a baggie and transferred it to a tooth-fairy-appropriate envelope when we got home.

In the past, when a tooth was lost, my daughter would place it in a hand-colored envelope and put it on her bedside table for the tooth fairy. A small pile of money in its place would greet her upon waking. Easy peasy for the “tooth fairy”.

Questions have been asked lately about the reality of the tooth fairy. We try to avoid lying at all costs in our house, but Santa and the tooth fairy still exist here. Barely.

This time the young one wanted to make it a bit difficult for the tooth fairy. She asked what would happen if she shoved the envelope down inside her pillowcase with her nightgown shoved in next to it to block the opening. We told her the tooth fairy might just not be strong enough to get to it.

Indeed not. The tooth fairy left a note, written in a lovely fairy hand, wondering where the tooth was. My daughter was disappointed.

Last night, she promised to put the tooth under her pillow. When I tucked her in, she had placed the envelope close to the left side of her pillow, and the note, with questions, (Where did you get the pen and paper? How does a fairy write? Does the tooth fairy like to be tricked?) close to the right side of her pillow.

At 10:00, tooth fairy A (me) goes in for the envelope and letter. They have now been shoved further under the pillow, right under her head. My small hand now feels like a meaty fist as it lifts and bobs her head with great ferocity. I grope and twist and wrench. Finally I have all the goods. Amazingly, the child does not stir.

I give the note to tooth fairy B (hubby) and he supplies the answers to the questions (downstairs, like this, no). He places the note and money on her bedside table.

This morning, I wake the child and pretend to check under her pillow (knowing full well that the loot and note are next to her bed). The money is under the pillow and the note is gone. Later, child looks under her covers at the bottom of her bed and pulls out the note. The sneaky beast is waiting for me to say that can't be right because Daddy has put it on her table.

I hope some stinkin’ kid at school tells her the truth about the tooth fairy. She’s got some interesting plans about where to hide the next tooth and I just can't deal with it.

Anytime, Anywhere

My daughter will read anytime.

She will read anywhere.

She will read anything.

Now I've got to figure out where to hide the more adult books. Nothing nasty, mind you, just a little more, uh, advanced for a 7-year-old.

It is surprising how much she has learned in the past year. This time last year, she was reading the simplest Dr. Seuss books. Now, she doesn't even require pictures anymore. Just page after page with lots of words.

Kids are interesting when they learn to smile. A little more interesting when they learn to walk. Quite interesting (and amusing) when they learn to talk. But this is my favorite stage when they learn to read and write.

I remember, yesterday I think it was, that my now 18-year-old nieces learned to read. I remember reading their school journals from second grade and crying. It is and was so hugely amazing to me. And I'm sure it is to them, too. This seems to me like the final frontier of learning. Except when they start having relationships with the opposite sex and I'm NEVER going to be ready for that. Nor will I enjoy it. This reading thing is it! The world is finally open to them once they learn to read. Or perhaps I should say they are open to the world.

How exciting. How scary.

Please Do NOT Feed the Ducks

Offering, 15 x 10" on Etsy.

My newest house piece. I haven't done one of these in a while. I don't know why I stopped. I love the house shape and its been quite popular. So, here's another.

I'm going to do a few more in the New Orleans series and then the plan is to do more house shapes. Perhaps I'll do a few smaller ones and integrate some paper bits.

I'm on "vacation" this week. My daughter has no camp and we are going to hang out and be lazy. We are off to lunch in a few minutes. A hot but pleasant day lies ahead. We will pack up some peanuts and bread and walk across the Penn State campus toward town. We will feed squirrels and ducks along the way.

The campus has a lovely duck pond and gardens. We have gone there for years and fed ducks and ducklings. And as I have been suspecting for years now, the "do not feed the ducks" signs have recently sprouted up around the pond. I'm sure a steady diet of bread is not the best thing for ducks. However, I suspect lawyers are involved somehow in these signs. Perhaps a child was nibbled a bit while feeding the ducks. Seconds later, lawyers rush in and lawsuits are drawn up. The university is terrified. In this "economic downturn" there is no cash lying around for the hungry and shallowly injured to gobble up, therefore the signs. Sigh.

So, is this a matter of healthy ducks or defense from lawsuits? I'm not a pate person. I don't believe in stuffing unwilling ducks just so we can harvest and munch on their distended livers. If I fed bread to the ducks and the next day saw them all floating feet up, I would feel bad. I would refrain from feeding them in the future. However, the pond is ringed by children holding out bread for the birds. The looks of joy on their faces as they nurture those ducks with child love and food is priceless. They feel they are doing good by taking care of the ducks. This is one of those exercises in learning compassion and empathy. I fully believe that a child that learns to nurture animals and people will grow up to be a loving person. This is what I will tell the annoying bureaucrat who waddles over with the ducks to remove the bread from our hands and shame us by not following the rules.

My Favorite Artist

Here is a photo of my favorite artist at work. My seven-year-old daughter Lily. I can't determine whether creating, acting or reading is at the top of her list. I guess it just depends on her mood.

For the past two weeks she went to the Penn State art camp for kids. The morning session was "Bugs" and the afternoon session was "Endangered Species". Regardless of the name, much creating was done. Which was fine by my daughter.

Last Friday, there were two art exhibits for her camps. I attended the morning event and hubby went in the afternoon. Between both classes, here is what we brought home:

I must say that my daughter was quite, uh, prolific. This "pile" does not include the artwork that is hanging on the shelves behind the table. Nor does it include the "panda" sculpture from the Endangered Species camp. I call it "Demento", but I am looking for better names.
When it came home from camp, my daughter and I talked about it for a few minutes, then I set in down on the kitchen counter. Later that night, when we were sure she was asleep, we looked at Demento together and, well, laughed. Hard and loud. But it was created by Lily and that makes it sweet. Almost. It looks almost as if it were created by two different people. Or, at least, two different personalities.

So, if anyone has a better name for this creature, please let me know.

Good Things About Kids

I stumbled upon this scenario yesterday. Opus and Zoe being served their lunch.