Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Tooth Fairy Passover
Passover is usually thought of as a time of celebration. The feast celebrates when the Angel of Death passed over and spared the lives of the Israeli children on the eve of their exodus from Egypt.
But not all passovers are met with such rejoicing. Consider my poor children. Growing up in this culture that marks the falling out of teeth with the reward of money, my children eagerly expect to receive their prize from the tooth fairy.
At first, I was all about playing the game. I would go above and beyond money. I'd buy them gifts that I knew they wanted as to be extra special. A dollar? Puuuuuh. That was for unimaginative parents who weren't as much fun.
My kids might wake up to find some accessory to a favorite toy that they had been pining for. Or maybe I would stumbled upon a great deal on a colorful pair of rubber boots that would be perfect for the oncoming rainy spring. Somehow I jammed those boots half under their pillow at night without waking them up. They never knew what prize they'd find under their head the next morning.
Then the kids kept coming. I couldn't keep up. Eventually, the kids woke up to find nothing below their pillows.
At first, I reacted predictably. Forgetting to buy a gift, money would be hidden below their pillow the old fashion way. While they slept, I slipped a dollar in the usual manner. However, it soon progressed to me waking up in the morning with deep dread because I had forgotten to sneak any money beneath their pillow. In a race with the sun, my world switched into slow motion as I ran to their room sliding something under their heads before they came-to. The worst was the time when I told my kid to keep their eyes closed while I did "nothing to their pillow."
But I couldn't even keep up with remembering in the morning. It wasn't long before the kids would confront me at the breakfast table.
"Mom, I still have my tooth."
I was clueless.
"Mom, I STILL have my tooth," said an outstretched hand holding a tooth.
I would congratulate them.
"MOM, I STILL HAVE MY TOOTH AND NO MONEY!"
They were forgiving and gave me a second night's try to get it right. After that kind of conversation at the breakfast table, I was sure to remember. The next time it took three conversations after three forgotten nights before I would remember. At this point, we are up to over a week after any given tooth falls out, and I might just need to fork over the money without any pretense of fun.
Someday I hope that the Tooth Fairy visits our house again. I'd love for the kids to fall back into this ritual of fun anticipation that children cherish. I really do hope that the Tooth Fairy won't ignore us again because these many passovers have provoked the kind of sad grief expressed by those unfortunate Egyptians rather than the joy of those who were passed over.
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awesome! It is addicting and wonderful. Glad to have you around and I can be reading about your life dear friend! HUGS and I am adding you to my google reader...
ReplyDeleteThe last time Marlow lost a tooth she showed it to me and said, "You can just give me my dollar now if you want." I pretended like I didn't know what she was talking about and told her she had to put it under her pillow. And then I forgot to put the money under her pillow. When she showed Joseph her tooth the next morning and said the "tooth fairy" forgot her, he pulled out his wallet and gave her a dollar :) Oh well.
ReplyDeletesoooo funny! glad i am not the only one who has this problem. my poor youngest kids haven't gotten their tooth fairy money yet even though they both lost teeth months ago. oh well.
ReplyDelete@ Julie: Yeah! I'm flattered and happy to stay connected to you though we are so far from each other!
ReplyDelete@ Amy: You made me laugh out loud! I think I snorted. I just imagine Joseph's head bent to talk to Marlow but looking at you as he said that the tooth fairy forgot her. Hahaha!
@ Kelly: This is therapy! I post hoping that others of you out there are providing your children with memories too....that is, you are forgetting, failing and fumbling everything dear to the kids the way I am.
yikes...my commenting skills are obviously lacking and i keep screwing this up so forgive me if this gets posted like 5 times!
ReplyDeletewhen i was of tooth losing age we lived in italy where the lire was still the in-vogue currency. my parents thought they were pretty sneaky/smart leaving a 1000 lire bill under our pillows. a whopping 50 cents i later learned.
Kate! I too would've been very impressed with a 1000 lire bill! Too funny! And very smart parents!
ReplyDeleteTonight I finally gave my son his $1 in honor of the tooth that fell out last month and prompted this blog post.
ReplyDelete