Nathanael lost his second tooth a week or so ago. He was pretty excited to put it under his pillow. This tooth fairy was feeling pretty good about remembering to bring him some cash since I have been known to forget. . . and for more than one night in a row. It was 9:30 pm and I was getting ready for bed. I checked all the kids and all were looking angelic, enjoying their respective blissful dreamlands. I grabbed the tooth, put money in the bag in exchange for the tooth and took it back to the boys' room, change jingling in the bag. After placing it carefully under Nathanael's pillow I stood up and was suddenly eye to eye with Ethan. His eyes were not sleepy. They were bugging out of his head. It seems he was not fast asleep afterall.
"I knew it was you!" he said.
I was speechless. At 10 he seems pretty old to still believe in these unexplainable events. A tooth disappearing but replaced by money. It seems obvious that an adult is behind this doesn't it? But the strong faith of a child can be powerful. Maybe it's not the best thing to mess with that power, but I prefer not to think of that since my kids have had many a magical morning as a result of it.
I'm glad I was there to witness the moment he gained his knowledge. We talked just a little bit about the tooth fairy. Then he looked me in the eye and said, "So then Santa. . ." I just smiled and then said, "Isn't it fun to be in on the secret?" I could see the ambivalence in his eyes. Like the moment you understand how the trick is done and suddenly the trick is not so cool anymore. Even though you really wanted to know how it's done, when you find out it's so anti climatic. This magical person (and all these childhood made up people, though Santa is clearly the biggest for us) he had hoped was real was just sent up in flames.
But at the same time he gets to be in on a fun secret. That could be fun couldn't it? We talked some more about how people had tried to tell him that Santa isn't real but he had refused to believe. He was a little embarrassed. In the end he did more smiling than frowning and I am glad it happened the way it did.
Today Kate lost a tooth. She left it in a baggie on the kitchen counter. Ethan brought it in while she was saying her prayers. When she was done he said, "The tooth fairy can't bring you money if your tooth isn't under your pillow." I noticed the smile he was trying to hold back and I can see he's really going to enjoy being in on the secret.
6 comments:
Busted! I like the way he took the news. You can really have fun with this and get him involved!
Phew, I think you handled that really well, that is exactly what I'll do when it's our turn. -Sam
I'm just so glad to know that my 10 year old isn't the only one that still believes. I'm sure my turn will come soon to break the news. Tom thinks I should have already done that before Christmas, but I needed one more for her.
Hey, I'm pretending that my 12 and almost 10 year old don't know. My mom and dad never had that "talk" with me.
I think I mentioned before, that when my older girls didn't believe in the toothfairy, she went away. I don't think they want to risk that happening with Santa. :o)
Maybe I need to re-think this. It could be very nice to have assistant tooth fairies. I can never remember!
This is funny! I can just see that happening. I'm so glad you go through all these things before me so I can learn what to do from you. :-)
I have had the same problem being the tooth fairy. J.C. finally just started giving the kids a dollar when they mentioned they had lost a tooth. Madi, my 10 year old, let me know a few weeks ago that she had lost a tooth and she was going to put it under her pillow. (I still attempt a bit of a show for the younger kids) I told her to go tell dad. She said, "He'll just give me money and that's not fun." So apparently even though they may kind of know they still enjoy the fun!
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