Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Messin' with the Tooth Fairy

My daughter lost her 2nd 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.

6 comments:

p said...

laughing....

Marty Mason said...

Funny one....just goes to show that you can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can't fool....well, you know the rest of the story!

Vicki W said...

roflol! My first grade "boyfriend" told me about the tooth fairy (and all the others). I proudly told my Mom and Dad. Dad told me not to tell my brother (he was 5) and then they promptly put us in the bath together. The secret lasted about 10 seconds. I've always told my brother everything. By your experience, I'd say I did my parents a favor!

Susan said...

After a day like I had today, reading your blog about the tooth fairy and your daughter questioning her existence, left me chuckling.

Kim you have one smart cookie there. I give you a pat on your shoulder.

ArtPropelled said...

A good laugh to start my day. Thanks Kim.

We had the tooth mouse in our house. The tooth would be placed in a slipper next to the bed with a small chunk of cheese. We would then paint rice with black paint and scatter a few around the slipper and inside (with the money). There came a time when my daughters decided that we shouldn't leave cheese for the mouse because it was obviously making the mouse poo in their slippers.

SHANNA WHEELOCK said...

so funny!

even when i knew the truth i lied to my parents, pretending i believed so that the gifts would keep on a comin'.