Did you know that February 28 is National Tooth Fairy Day? I’m serious. You can go here if you don’t believe me. (It was National Wine Drinking Day the other week- I didn’t Google it for proof. I just believed and poured myself a glass).
Not long after I wrote my post about kids losing their teeth and the joys of playing the Tooth Fairy, my curious and surprisingly sleuthy 6 year old twins discovered my treasure trove of baby teeth. I have been keeping them, hesitant to throw them out. It seems somehow sacrilege to just toss these little baby teeth in the trash. So I have carefully placed each little fang into a separate labelled bag and have hidden these bags in a decorative wooden box on my dresser, a relatively innocuous box with no other purpose. Seemed the perfect place! Or so I thought...
The other day K and M were playing nicely in their bedroom when they wandered down the hall to play in my room. I’m not sure exactly how they came to open the box but I can only imagine their delight when they found the bags of baby teeth. When the unusual quiet drew me to investigate, they declared with great excitement that they had found some teeth! (They didn’t realize at that point that they were their own.)
I stood stunned for a moment and quickly went into crisis control mode, whipping up a story about how I had left a note for the Tooth Fairy asking her to leave the teeth for me. I told them how she took their teeth from under their pillows, replaced them with money and then, instead of bringing the teeth to new babies (!!), she came into my room and left the teeth under my pillow so I could save them. I might have even joked about making them necklaces out them when they are adults (*shudder*). I used my happiest “wow- isn’t this exciting!” voice and they seemed to buy it. Or perhaps the joke is on me and they really know the truth and are just humouring me. Either way, we remain co-conspirators in the fantasy.
There is just something so special about kids believing in magic. Perhaps it's a way for us parents to recapture some of the innocence and wonder of our lost childhood, the belief that anything is possible if you only just believe. I know there are nay-sayers out there who claim that these childhood myths are harmful lies, causing our children to never trust again. I believe that there is no other time in our lives where we have such faith, such hope in the joy of life. What is more magical that Santa, the Easter Bunny and of course, our beloved Tooth Fairy! Why wouldn’t we want to keep the magic going a little longer?
(Please? Just a little bit longer? At least until I have those tooth necklaces done.)
Image © Holly Jones | Dreamstime.com
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