The Tooth Fairy

Maybe it had to do with my growing up in Pennsylvania vs. Ohio where my children have been born and raised. Regardless, when my daughter put a glass of water by her bedside several years ago I was confused. Cara had just lost a tooth and was settling into bed in anticipation of a visit by the tooth fairy. I asked her what the water was for. She patiently replied that if you put a glass of plain water by your bedside on the eve of a tooth loss, the tooth fairy would dip one of her wings in the water. When you woke the next morning, the water would be the color of your fairy's wings (apparently there are many tooth fairies to handle world tooth loss). In addition Cara had written a note to the fairy with several questions for the fairy to answer including: "Who is your best friend?" and "Do you have a boyfriend?" I wondered out loud if the tooth fairy would have time to do all of this--dip her wing, write a note and most importantly retrieve the tooth under the pillow and replace with money. In my day, the tooth fairy would leave money in exchange for the tooth and that was that. Apparently times have changed. No wonder there are hundreds of tooth fairies with different colored wings. The fairy did manage to dip her wing and replace the tooth with money, but she did not have time to leave a response to all of those questions.

Last night Brendan lost a tooth. He was quick to put a glass of plain water by his bedside. When he woke up this morning he discovered that his tooth fairy had turquoise wings. This was more exciting than the dollar the fairy also left behind. The magic of childhood. All of this great inspiration led me to create my tooth fairy. She hangs here in our bathroom. Of course my kid's know she's not the real thing--just mommy's version. ; )