Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Cut to the Chase

Our house has a pretty miserable excuse for a tooth fairy.

Like one of the last times #4, thrilled over her latest lost tooth, put it under her pillow. I fully meant to engage the tooth fairy on her job before I went to bed. I really did. But I was tired. And I forgot.

In the morning, #4 came to me with a sad little furrow on her brow. "The tooth fairy didn't come."

#3, who is older and wiser and knows a bit about the ways of the world, helped distract #4 while I ran around the house for change and sneaked it into her room.

Turns out the tooth fairy just pushed the money into an awkward corner deep under her pillow so she didn't see it.

Phew.

Or something.

Yesterday, #3 lost one of her last teeth. An hour or so later, I walked into my office to find a 5X7 piece of red cardstock on my desk and a note from her on it:

Can I have a buck?

Plus a smiley face . . . and her tooth.

Smart gal. Might as well cut to the chase, get your cash, and not risk Mom forgetting to whip the tooth fairy into action.

Or something.

16 comments:

Lara Neves said...

Bria has started doing the same thing.

So. Much. Easier.

Our tooth fairy has quite the reputation of never showing up until the tooth is under a pillow for at least a week. Often more.

Kristina P. said...

Yep, cut out the middleman.

Unknown said...

Very, very cute. We told our kids the dog ate the tooth fairy. They were pretty much beyond the statute of limitations on believing anyway, so no harm done. Plus, they knew that their dad paid way better than the TF!

TisforTonya said...

DeNae's dog just made me spew my lunch onto the laptop.

Of course, I'm totally stealing the idea - because our pathetic excuse for a tooth fairy really cannot get her act together.

She's had to leave I'm sorry notes (written really REALLY tiny) about being chased off by birds and rain... but we're running out of excuses (and it's HARD to write that small)

LisAway said...

Thief!! I have a post in my drafts about how so many people talk about forgetting to leave money under pillows and my solution. I forget many nights in a row. I'm terrible. One night I went to bed and found a little paper on my pillow addressed to the tooth fairy from Evie as a reminder. Now I put something on my pillow as soon as someone loses a tooth. :)

Lesa said...

Fun story. #3 is a smart gal.

Susan Anderson said...

We forgot a couple of times over the years. We always just said the tooth fairy must have had a really busy night with lots of people losing teeth. Happily, leaving it under their pillow for the following evening always brought the desired results!

=)

PS. The first time it happened, I have to admit we panicked!

Heidi said...

How cute! I haven't been blogging for a long time and hadn't seen your new blog header but I must say, I like it!

Melanie Jacobson said...

Our house has the lamest tooth fairy ever.

Krista said...

It's really sad how much relief this post brings me. Our #1 really got after us about #4's tooth money. She knew how awful we were and wouldn't let us miss the last few teeth.
Fun post, Annette!

Jenn Adams said...

BTDT. Your post made me LOL. Our tooth fairy is very, very busy; it sometimes takes her several nights to come. Sometimes the money falls on the floor behind a bed leg, where, mysteriously, only Mom can find it no matter how hard the kids looked before she got there. Once the TF drew a picture of herself in response to a child's pleading note to prove her existence and to show how sorry she was for her long delay. Maybe the kids would believe in her longer if she wasn't such a slacker? (I love the idea of leaving a note to yourself on your own pillow. Totally doing that from now on.)

NorahS said...

Ha! That's a good one! Smart girl.

Stephanie Black said...

I've been known to ask kids to leave the tooth fairy a note. I have such a hard time remembering!

Heffalump said...

It's so much nicer when you can just hand them a dollar and call it good.
I remember catching the tooth fairy once. She looked just like my Mom, and she said she was just checking to see if the tooth fairy came yet when I caught her with my hand under my pillow.
For some reason after that my Mom wouldn't let us keep it under the pillow...we had to keep it in a cup in the kitchen instead.

Shelley said...

I have so been there. Am kind of looking forward to #4 who is last and 8yrs. to figure it out so I can stop feeling like such a schmuck each time I mess it up.

Chas Hathaway said...

Hahahaha!

When my wife was little, she got a note from the tooth fairy that said that it's hard for her (the tooth fairy) to come when little girls stay up deep into the night reading in her bed (love it!) and that she'd come again tonight if she goes to sleep early.

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