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| A classic 'disappointed' look. |
I say FINALLY because the "grown up" teeth had already entered the picture and those front two bottom baby teeth had been dangling for quite a while. It was uncomfortable to eat with him.
It's been a four long decades since I first lost a tooth, but I think I 'get' the fear factor. To a six-year-old, losing a tooth, at least the first one, is a pretty scary deal. He might be thinking 'if my tooth can just fall out, and if Uncle JB's hair falls out, what else? Will my eyeball just fall out some day?'
So the Tooth Fairy entered our home again last night. I woke up earlier than necessary this morning worrying, "Did we forget?" So I woke Kevin to get his confirmation that he did indeed take care of the Fairy visit. He had; I caught a few more winks.
Then Toby came in, box of teeth in hand, claiming the Tooth Fairy didn't come.
Well, that woke me up.
I thought quickly and said, "Oh, the Tooth Fairy must've thought you wanted to save those special teeth, so she* left them for you." (Unlike the mean, nasty Tonsil Fairy, who said it was against hospital bio hazardous waste rules that we couldn't take his tonsils and adenoids home with us.)
Toby added, "But she didn't leave me anything."
A quick visit to his room, turning over pillows, a dozen stuffed animals, blankets, pulling out the bed from the wall, sure that the $20 (Tooth Fairy pays big for the first tooth, and when you have a two-fer, well ...) had simply fallen somewhere.
The bill was not to be found. Kevin joined in the search, confused. In desperation, not wanting to let his son down (he looked so genuinely hurt), Kevin grabbed a second $20 bill and planted it between the mattress and box spring and suggested Toby look a little longer.
He found the new money and was thrilled. And only then did he share that in fact, the Tooth Fairy had come. He then pulled out the original $20 from his book case, adding, "See, I hid it over here."
Not knowing whether to scream, cry or laugh, I excused myself and laughed in private. Then I wondered, "What was that boy thinking? What is going through his head? Why would he hide the money, very convincingly lie to us, with very genuinely saddened face, voice, body, demeanor, and tell us the Tooth Fairy had forgotten him.
Those are the questions I plan to take with me to our first therapy visit.
And that, my friends, is how the Tooth Fairy got hoodwinked. Be warned.
Cheers!
*Is the Tooth Fairy male or female? I believe it is male. Kevin, female. Discuss among yourselves.
