Tooth Fairy is Back in Good Standing

Congratulations to Paul who lost his 4th tooth yesterday. We are so used to seeing him with just one front tooth- it has been maybe even 3 years since his mouth hit the pavement, and Grandpa G had to remove the companion front tooth. Though slightly discolored, the other one hung in there for so long. But now our little boy's smile looks like this...


And I need to send out a congratulations to someone else... me! Congrats to me for seeing to it that the tooth fairy did her job...this time!

WARNING: Possible spoiler for children under 10. Everyone else, read on...

I have been the worst tooth fairy ever. There have been times when the kids woke not just one morning, but two mornings in a row to find nothing but drool anywhere near their pillows. During my last flub with Olivia I really thought I was going to have to come clean and explain to my children that the tooth fairy is not such a bad gal, but their mom is a big slacker. Instead, I wisely held back my confessions and saw that the kids were able to reason it out for themselves quite nicely. You see, my kids know that in order for the tooth fairy to have a successful visit, conditions must be just right. Almost anything can mess it up-- not being in your own bed, being awake part of the night, the tooth being hidden too well, having the light on, being in the bathroom at the wrong time...the list goes on. Whew! "Great thinking kids! You are sooo smart! Try again tonight!" I felt safe until Olivia announced on morning two of disappointment that she was going to report this injustice to her 3rd grade class. I was sure I was a goner, but three cheers for the 3rd graders! They really came through for me. They told Olivia that she didn't get money because she needed to write a note to accompany her tooth. Another day bought and problem solved.

Well, last night Paul put his tooth in a zip-loc bag and put it on his... dresser?! Lucky for him I asked where his tooth was when I tucked him in and got it properly situated under his pillow. And that hour that was taken away when we Sprang Forward on Sunday was to my advantage. Paul was fast asleep when I woke this morning, dreading getting the kids up for school- it just seemed way too early. But then, a light went off in my head-- the tooth! I remembered the tooth! And I had time to go downstairs and scrounge through my wallet and get it right! I'm sure the kids were shocked that there were no complications this time. Hooray for me! I did it right and saved the good name of the tooth fairy...well, I at least extended her existence for a time.

Now, let's back-track a bit. A couple months ago I read an article in the magazine "Wondertime" that I was sure was mocking me. The title is "In Praise of Lazy Parenting" and it's by Brett Paesel. (You can read it here if you want. You will be comforted to know that the children "haven't really suffered from [her/my] lethargy--they've benefited.") Anyway, the writer begins with a story eerily similar to my own tooth fairy experience. She even uses one of my original tricks for covering herself after messing up. For those who may need this in the future-- grab a couple bucks and then go with the distraught child into their room and frantically throw their pillow and sheets around until you find the misplaced dollars left by the well meaning, but slightly frazzle-brained tooth fairy. Well, I got a kick out of this writer's report that upon hearing about the mastermind cover up, her friend exclaimed, "Wow, I do this whole routine of sprinkling glitter near the bed and writing a note with silver ink in a fairy-sized font." What?!

While I'm at it, let me just confess to one more area in which I'm a lazy parent-- gift-wrapping. Around Christmastime, a few ladies posted lovely pictures of their color-coordinated packages on their blogs. These gifts had been meticulously wrapped using hospital corners. They were topped with snowy pine cones or shimmering snowflakes and marked with handmade tags straight from the pages of Creating Keepsakes magazine. Some of these gifts weren't even wrapped in red or green. I believe one gal had a beautiful ensemble of browns and blues. I had to chuckle when I thought of the packages that would eventually sit under our tree-- "eventually" meaning Christmas Eve at the latest. As long as the paper wasn't see through and had Santa or some red on it, it was good to go. "To and From" is easily written in a black Sharpie marker directly on the wrapping itself. This eliminates any possibility of a tag or card being separated from the gift. I'm not totally cheap, (and this must be the artist in me coming out) I do like to stick a matching premade bow or two on top of the package. But if the bows are all squished from last year it will be okay to do without. Can I just say three cheers for Good Enough!?!