The Tooth Fairy

Last Friday, Katie woke me up early in the morning with an excited giggle. "Mommy," she whispered. "Guess what? Guess what? My tooth is LOOSE."

She had a tough year at school because she was the ONLY kid in her class that didn't loose a tooth! All of her "best" friends had lost teeth, but hers had stubbornly refused to even hint at wiggling. She was devastated.

I rolled over to face her, and said, "That's so exciting. Maybe the tooth fairy will visit you!"
She rolled her eyes and said, "Mommy, you are the tooth fairy. I already know that." Then she proceeded to tell me that her friends at school think that Santa Clause and the Tooth Fairy are real, and when she explained to them that it was just their mommy and daddy, they looked at her and said, "you don't believe in anything!"

Well, I let the whole thing slide. I didn't mention the conversation again, and just waited for her tooth to fall out. It wiggled and jiggled and bled a little, and then...on Monday afternoon as we drove home from our second blueberry picking trip, she shouted, "it came out!"

She was so excited. She declared that she hoped the "Hawaiian" Tooth Fairy would visit her. I frowned. Huh? Yes, the Hawaiian Tooth Fairy might come because she had some Hawaiian in her, and Hawaiian tooth fairies leave money AND candy!

I told her that the Hawaiian Tooth Fairy might not know to come because she had just a little bit of Hawaiian in her, and in fact the Norwegian Tooth Fairy would probably come. She asked me what the Norwegian Tooth Fairy was like, and I said, "well, the Norwegian Tooth Fairy just takes your tooth and doesn't leave anything." Talk about a downer! Now, before you all start shaking your heads and thinking that I was being a mean mommy, you have to remember that I'd been thinking about this whole tooth fairy thing for an ENTIRE week. I did let her ponder the idea of a Norwegian tooth fairy for a few seconds, and then I said, "perhaps the America Boy or America Girl Tooth Fairy will visit you."

Of course, she asked me about them, and I explained that the American Boy and American Girl Tooth Fairies were the best tooth fairies out there because the left candy or gum AND they left dollar bills. I told her it was great if one of them came, but if a child had been especially helpful and good then sometimes they would BOTH come and then they would leave DOUBLE candy and DOUBLE money.

Now, here I thought she would get so excited and happy, but instead she burst into tears. A little perplexed, I asked her why she was crying, and she wailed, "I haven't been very good!" Interesting, I thought, so I asked her to explain. She said, "I've been lying!" About what? "About hitting Georgie!" I almost burst into laughter. Managed to control the urge, and explained to her that I already knew about that, and that I'm pretty sure the tooth fairies knew about it, but that we also understand how very annoying a little sister can be.

So, when Kate was 2, Joanelle gave me a little tooth fairy box, that I saved and nurtured and made sure it traveled safely all the way down to Texas. So, we filled out the little certificate with a tooth fair summoning pen that sparkled and wrote in golden ink. Then we put the tooth on its satin pillow and tucked it underneath Kate's pillow. The kids climbed into bed and I left the room. I heard Kate say, "Dear Jesus, please, don't let the Norwegian Tooth Fairy come. Please, send the Hawaiian tooth fairy or the American tooth fairies. Amen."

When she woke up the next morning I heard her shout, "Mommy! The tooth fairy came!" and then there was a little silence before she shouted, "I think a LOT of them came!" Lo, and behold the Hawaiian tooth fairy had left a snicker bar and some money. The American Boy Tooth Fairy had left Bubblegum, Junior Mints and some money. And the American Girl Tooth Fairy had left a MONSTER chocolate bar, money and lip gloss. All of them left little notes, written in golden ink to tell her what a nice, helpful little girl she was. Kate giggled and said, "I don't think the Norwegian Tooth Fairy came!" Then she opened her tooth box and out fell a note that said, "I took your tooth. Thanks. Norwegian Tooth Fairy. P.S. You have a lot more teeth to loose, so I'm saving your money for later."