Some kid notes

We’ve had a rash of lost teeth lately. L. lost three in just under two weeks, and is currently missing all four corner teeth. And then M. lost a tooth just before bedtime Wednesday.

As I’ve related before, my Tooth Fairy game is off its peak of a few years back. One night for L., when I went in her room and began fishing around under her pillow for the baggie with her tooth, she rustled, yawned, and then rolled over toward me. While my hand was still under the pillow.

I froze for a second, debated whether to wait another five minutes and come back, or go with the Band-Aid strategy: just find the tooth and rip my hand out of there. I geeeeently stretched a little further, found the baggie with my finger tips, said a silent prayer to the Tooth Fairy, and yanked it out. L. snorted a bit, but did not wake up. I tossed her three bucks onto her pillow and got the hell out.

M., as you may recall, is pretty hip to the game. She always leaves her teeth out on her nightstand, placed carefully for easy access. Still, when her door creaked as I snuck in, I was suspicious that she was still awake.[1] Something about the look of sleep on her face seemed forced. Whatever. I found her tooth without issue. However, she stuck a note for the Tooth Fairy into her baggie. I had consumed a pretty potent beer before bedtime, so I wasn’t in a condition to pen an immediate response. Thus, I saved it for today.

Her letter was a real gem. First, she thanked the Tooth Fairy for always bringing her and her sisters money for their teeth. Then she casually mentioned that she needed $13 for the headband she wants to buy. Like really needs it. Next up was a series of questions. Why does the Tooth Fairy take teeth? What does she do with them? Does she make a castle with them? Does she have a model of each kid’s head that she puts the teeth into?[2] Or does she make dentures with them? Finally, she made a request to get more than $3 this time, since that’s what she always gets and, you know, the $13 headband and all.

My response, errrrrrr, the TF’s response, which was printed in purple ink and using a flowery font and will be slipped into her room late tonight, says it was just the Tooth Fairy’s job to take the teeth. No, no castles or creepy head models or dentures were made from them. Rather, they were stored in a drawer with each kid’s name on it. And, no, she could not offer up more than $3. But, the Tooth Fairy suggested, perhaps M. could volunteer to “cheerfully” do some chores around the house to earn the other $10 she needs.

OK, so maybe I am still pretty solid at this Tooth Fairy gig.

C. has not lost any teeth lately, but had her own funny thing recently. Each girl got a Barnes and Noble gift certificate for Christmas. When we went to use them the week between holidays, L. bought a spy kit and C. bought a magic kit. Both came in little, fake briefcases. They’re pretty cute.[3]

As usual, C. was all-in. She practiced her tricks and then wanted to have shows. On New Year’s Day, as we were taking down Christmas decorations, she took a large piece of cardboard and made a sign promoting her shows. “Come be amazed by Curious C.!” one side said. The other had a large question mark with “How does she do it?” written inside. Then there were the show times. She had shows every 15 minutes from 1:00 to 4:00 that day. Some shows even – magically! – overlapped. One show went from 2:15–2:45, while another kicked off at 2:30. I missed those shows, so not sure how she pulled them off.

The girls all went on a cleaning spree Monday when they were home for the holiday. Not cleaning their rooms or messes they had made around the house. No, instead they decided to clean all the counters and mirrors in each bathroom, Windex windows, and otherwise do work that we normally do. As they completed their work, they left little notes around the house. C. and L.’s notes said, “Thanks for using Cleaners, Inc. We Hope You Are Satisfied.” M., who was late to join the effort, made her own cards for “M.’s Cleaning Service.”

At 11:10 pm.  ↩

Creepy!  ↩

M. couldn’t find a book she wanted and held onto hers.  ↩