Toothsome Tales From a Fairy Failure
Posted by Danielle Bean in Just me on Thursday, March 04, 2010 10:28 AM
Pardon me, but I have something I just need to share ...
THE TOOTH FAIRY CAME LAST NIGHT!
I thought about sharing this exciting news in this week’s Small Successes but it feels just a bit too monumental for that.
You see, the Tooth Fairy remembered that a child had lost a tooth, found a dollar bill, and actually placed it under the sleeping tooth donor’s pillow before going to bed herself.
This is huge.
The Tooth Fairy in our house has gone through a bit of an evolution over the years.
Early on, she was so enamored with the idea of this tooth-losing milestone in her precious children that she determined to mark the occasion accordingly. Not with plain old money, but with a gift—something small but meaningfully connected to the child’s interests.
A daughter who loved horses, for example, would receive two tiny plastic ponies. A son interested in insects would receive a magnifying glass and bug booklet. A child aiming to become the bubble-blowing champion of the universe would receive a jumbo-pack of Juicy Fruit.
It was a loving tradition. A sweet tradition. An incredibly naive and overreaching tradition.
A half dozen years and a half dozen children later, the Tooth Fairy became tired. And forgetful.
At first, she felt guilty. Disappointed faces in the morning led to a dumping of her purse contents into the forgotten child’s waiting hands.
But then she became just a bit jaded. And she took her children along with her.
After years of neglect and failure, she found herself in a store one day with her second son. He showed her a $5 pack of sports cards and mentioned that it might have been years since Tooth Fairy had recognized any of his lost teeth.
She bought the cards.
And then she renewed her resolve to do better by her children. Her new plan goes like this:
Whenever a child loses a tooth, she immediately helps her rinse and spit, package the tooth, and place it under her pillow.
Then, before she allows herself to do anything else—not a thing! no checking email, no folding laundry, no starting dinner!—she writes a large note to herself in purple crayon (or any writing implement she finds) on a sheet of paper.
It is a simple note. The note reads: “TOOTH!”
After placing this note on her own pillow, the Tooth Fairy goes about the other business of her day.
And this is how she does not forget. She might sometimes find herself outside in her pajamas in sub-zero temperatures at nearly-midnight, rifling through the backseat of her husband’s truck in a desperate search for a dollar bill ... but she does not forget.
No indeed. These days, the Tooth Fairy remembers.
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