Thursday, December 11, 2008

A FALLEN FAIRY


I really should be wrapping presents. Or finishing up homemade Christmas gifts. Or mopping my floor. But I feel the need to blog.
So I will share with you (and my posterity) a few interviews that have gone down in the past few weeks that I would hate to forget. Starting with this one.
So before Thanksgiving Mercedes lost a tooth. It came as a surprise since I only knew it was slightly wiggly just a day or so before. And it wasn't one of her front teeth either so it's not even noticeable. She's 9 going on 16 so I think she kept her enthusiasm curbed. But deep down she couldn't wait to turn that tooth into cash. So she went to bed that night without so much as a whisper about the tooth. Why should she remind us? In all her 5 years of losing teeth the Tooth Fairy hadn't let her down before! Imagine her surprise the next morning when the tooth box on her nighstand held nothing but.... HER TOOTH!!!
"Silly Mercedes," I covered, "why would the Tooth Fairy even look on your nighstand? She was probably searching frantically under your pillow, the poor thing!"
That night, it happened again. Not the slightest whisper about the tooth she was whisking off in a plastic bag (so it wouldn't get lost) to tuck tenderly under her pillow. Well, imagine my horror the next morning when I heard her making excuses for this forgetful fairy. "My bag slipped down and was under my back. She probably just didn't have the strength to pull it out from underneath me." (I know.... I can hear your heart breaking for my Sweet Little Thing from here!)
Now Mercedes is a very smart girl. Something was amiss in the Soward's household... she just knew it. And I'm sure she tried to dismiss any doubts but logic is something she just can't ignore.
Later that afternoon she came into our room to sit us down for a talk. She wanted answers.

"Is the Tooth Fairy even real?"
"Well, Honey, why wouldn't she be real?"
"I don't know. I have a hard time believing that tiny humans are real."
"Well, YOU'RE a tiny human....."
"No, I mean a tiny human with wings."
"Well, uh.....um... er.... if there isn't a tiny human with wings collecting your teeth then who do you think it is?"
"YOU guys. I know it's you."
So after a few chuckles, tons of hugs, and a thousand apologies for the forgotten tooth... she knew. And she accepted it with a happy grin. And **POP** a little bit of innocence broke through the barrier of our blissful bubble taking a bit of my heart with it. And although the interview immediatley continued onto bigger, redder, jollier things (if you know what I mean) I feel it imperative to tell you now that YES, the Tooth Fairy finally visited that night. A shameful, wingless, big human still kept care to tiptoe into that precious 9 year old's room and quietly drop a guilty handful of change on top of that tooth box on the nightstand.
And what was found next to said tooth box? A map of where to find the tooth! She's smart, I'm telling you. She knows how to work it. Here... have another dollar. Sleep well, baby girl. xoxoxoxox







4 comments:

Stefani said...

This is funny! Our poor kids have just always thought the tooth fairy was forgetful. It's just in her nature.

Brady, who has known the truth for years, lost a tooth more than a week ago. He told me he was putting it under his pillow. Alas, the next morning it was still there with NO money. He told me the toothfairy forgot to come. That night, very innocently, he said, "I hope the toothfairy comes tonight" And so it went for about 5 days. Every morning he would say, "The toothfairy didn't come", and every night he would calmly say, "I hope she comes tonight." Finally she came through. He got $4 out of the deal... I think he thought that was worth the wait.

I just always told the kids that there must have been a lot of kids losing teeth yesterday and the toothfairy MUST have been really busy and couldn't make it to everyone's house (they never asked why they were always last on the list).

BTW, paybacks on the long comment :)

Lydia said...

The tooth fairy that comes to our house is SOOOOO flaky! I think I can count on one hand the number of times she has actually made the switch on the first night. And we've lost a lot of teeth! In fact, I bet there's a few upstairs under some pillows right now!

Love that Mercedes! What a sweet girl!

Annette said...

Oh my goodness Tiff. Big tears are falling here!!! That was so tender, so precious, so honest and sweet. Good for you guys! Such great parents. I loved this post.

Brooke said...

i forget the tooth fairy all the time.