"He didn't come," said eight year old Katherine, staring glumly into her bowl of cereal.
"Who, honey?"
"The tooth fairy. There's no money, and my tooth is still there."
"Maybe he's just running late," I offered. "You know, that happens sometimes."
Unfortunately, it happens a lot at our house. Our tooth fairy is jet-lagged. He's forgetful. He's even been known to put the money under the wrong child's pillow. This was a particularly bad time for the tooth fairy (and his faithful assistant) to slip up, because this particular tooth had been pulled by the dentist, and Katherine had exhibited exceptional bravery.
"I already know the tooth fairy is Daddy, and he forgot -- again!"
I ushered Katherine into our bedroom for a little heart to heart with her Dad. When they finished, she trudged back to her room and found this:
Katherine eyed the note card taped to her bunk bed. Only it wasn't just a note. Two dollar bills dangled from the scotch tape as well. Hmmm. . .interesting. I think the tooth fairy may have felt a little guilty.
Katherine's one smart cookie, but she was stumped. How could Daddy have done this? He'd been with her the whole time.
She ran to check under her pillow. The tooth was still there.
Placing the tooth on her dresser she asked, "OK, if the tooth fairy left that note, why didn't he get my tooth too . . . huh?"
I hate it when that happens.
Hours later, however, when Katherine passed by her dresser again, the tooth had vanished; only this note remained.
Running to my room, Katherine searched high and low, but her tooth was nowhere to be found. Confounding her even more was the fact that her dad was now at work.
So who took her tooth?
Maybe it was the tooth fairy after all.
Moral of the story: When the tooth fairy slips up (as most tooth fairies do from time to time), make a fun memory!
Our tooth fairy works till 7 am - so if you get out of bed before the, there is a chance that she hasn't come yet (we have actually had that happen twice!). I figure that the two behind Cami now know the rules and we have a built in excuse since no one who is still losing teeth in this house ever sleeps past 7!
ReplyDeleteElla's first tooth she insisted on dragging it all around town in a plastic baggie to show everyone....So when she slipped it under her pillow, it seemed like a long ago event. I had to tell her the tooth fairy lost track of where the tooth was and when it was in the perspective location.....
ReplyDeleteSo happy to here I am not the only one.....
Sometimes the tooth fairy skips over our home if someone in our house is up late. Once she waited three days before collecting the tooth and left $5. My girls do not mind if the tooth fairy skips, because she does compensate for the extra days.
ReplyDelete