Perhaps you’ve read my post about our incredibly unreliable and irresponsible Tooth Fairy? Well, this mystical collector of teeth has sunk to new lows.
After days of watching in dismay as Cody woke up every morning, all excited about the money that should have been left under his pillow for his tooth, he finally decided that the Tooth Fairy must hate him.
A little girl in his class confirmed this the same day, when she informed him that the Tooth Fairy had written her a note saying that very thing.
“Ridiculous,” I scoffed, when he came home and told me.
But of course, inside, I felt incredibly ashamed of myself. Why on earth can’t I remember such a simple thing???
So, that night, the Tooth Fairy left Cody this envelope with money inside of it:
The next morning, when I asked if the Tooth Fairy had come yet, Cody grumpily said, “No, she’s never coming. She hates me.”
“Are you sure?” I prodded, encouraging him to just check.
As he pulled out the envelope, a smile lit up his entire face. “Cody, sorry I’m so late… I was ON VACATION!” he read. “I KNEW IT!”
OK, so that worked this time.
Only, oh, 15+ teeth or so to go, between Cody and Logan.
Unfortunately, I don’t think they’ll believe the Tooth Fairy takes that many vacations.
Have you ever been late with your kids’ tooth money? How have you covered your tracks?
This reminds me I want to write a story about that darn tooth fairy and Santa and the Easter Bunny. I am so against lying to my kids, that I have serious problems taking on these personas. Not sure what the answer is.
As to your post: I think your note was adorable, and will make for a sweet story when your kids grow up. To me, that’s the very definition of a great mom — someone who creates positive, wonderful memories for her kids.
Haha Damon doesn’t believe in the tooth fairy or any mythical creature anymore so I don’t have to worry about it. I must say it’s a huge relief!
I’m a real killjoy when it comes to things like the tooth fairy. I tell my kids that there’s no such thing and just give them the money directly.
I love this story! As it happens, I, er, I mean, the Tooth Fairy, forgot to visit just last night. She is a frequent no show at the Raymond house, and I suspect the kids (ages 10, 7, 4 and 4) are getting suspicious. Did we lock her out? Is she afraid of us? Is there something wrong with our teeth? I’ve heard it all. Fortunately, (okay, not the best adverb, but…) we could pull the sick card this week, as one of the kids has a bug. “The tooth fairy has to stay healthy,” I offered, “because she has so many rounds to make. She can’t take sick days.” They bought it. This time.
Thank God I am not the only mother that does this!! I’ve been feeling so bad about it to! I NEVER EVER remember until it’s to late, and I’ve already woke him up. With his last tooth I even contemplated just telling him the truth and giving him a $20. You know, like a book advance, only for his teeth.
Just today we almost blew it. Son #2 (yes, we refer to them as numbers, now, because we can’t seem to remember their names anymore) lost his first tooth early Sunday morning. He was very excited, and put it in a baggie for safe keeping as #1 instructed him to do so. I remembered this blog entry of yours and made a mental note not to forget my secret mission later that evening. “Evening” was 10 hours away so it was going to be tough to remember…
The next morning he was up early before school and sitting on the couch reading a book he had found laying on the chair from the night before. Immediately my heart sank as I realized what we had forgotten to do. I was hoping that maybe he forgot to check under his pillow this morning and I might be able to still sneak it under there, but then he said to me, “Look what the tooth fairy got me. This is all I got.” Well, OK, so, I guess he didn’t forget about the tooth fairy. “That’s OK,” he said, “I like this book.” Since he seemed satisfied, I was tempted to leave well enough alone, but I could sense the disappointment in his voice that he really wanted to get money instead. So, I asked more questions to try to figure out why he thinks that this book is his gift from T.F. (Tooth Fairy).
“Are you sure that’s what the tooth fairy gave you? Was your tooth gone?”
“Yes.”
I was so confused (it was early, and I hadn’t had my coffee yet. ) I was starting to think that maybe T.F. really did exist. Suddenly it dawned on me. This weekend we had guests stay with us. We moved 1 & 2 into the office to sleep on an air mattress while our guests used the boys’ room. Sleeping on the air mattress is such a novel idea, and even though our guests only stayed 1 evening the boys wanted to sleep on the mattress one more night. Now I saw a way out of this one. My husband and I ever so nonchalantly walked downstairs, found his tooth at the end of the air mattress amidst all the blankets and quickly placed the money under his pillow in his regular bed.
“You’d better check your regular bed, Landon. I bet the tooth fairy put your money under your real pillow.”
One minute later he comes running back upstairs with $2 in his hands and a big beaming smile! One down…and TOO MANY to go!
You know, Beth, that’s really not a bad idea. Maybe I should go with that approach. Of course then with my luck, I’ll be getting phone calls from angry parents of kids in my sons’ classes who have been informed that the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and Santa are not real…
SO glad to hear I’m not the only forgetful parent (though you are by no means in my league of forgetting night after night after night…)! I often feel like a failure because I’m such a complete space cadet, so it’s great to hear other people’s stories too.
Thanks, Margo! =)
Great idea, Christina! I may end up doing the same, at this rate. I already do it with my 11-year-olds because they’ve known for awhile now that there’s no such thing as the Tooth Fairy. In my opinion, it took them much longer to figure that out than it really should have, considering how delinquent our TF is!
Diane, that is hilarious! I’ve heard the “Is there something wrong with my teeth?” question too. These questions almost make me laugh, but they’re so sad, that if I do chuckle, it’s tinged with guilt.
Thanks for sharing.