It happens to the best of us. At least I’d like to think it happens to the best of us.
Despite being the best parent you can be all day long, you totally drop the ball after the kids have gone to bed.
Yes, I’m talking about the worst offense possible, forgetting about the Tooth Fairy.
Another excellent fail…
In our house, we were actually boasting a pretty good record of NOT forgetting. And my kids are getting older, I mean…it’s frankly a miracle that they still believe. Santa is questionable, but the Tooth Fairy? She’s solid. I’m not sure why, but I’ll go with it…
…if I remember.
This is what happened:
Syd has been on a tooth losing spree lately. Frankly, I’m surprised that I don’t have to blend all her food for her.
Two weeks ago, she lost a tooth at school and spent some time writing a long note asking the Tooth Fairy questions. Later that night, She (aka Hubby) answered those questions with a scrawling script, tucked the note and a Toonie (for my American readers, a Toonie is a $2 coin) into her Tooth Fairy pillow and we snuck out of the room.
Last night’s Toonie
Syd woke up thrilled and two dollars richer.
The next night, while I was out at critique group, I received a text message. Syd had lost another tooth. Did I have a Toonie? Crap. I rarely have cash or coins of any kind. A quick mention of this, and every single one of my talented writing friends produced a coin. That night, the Tooth Fairy wrote another note and tucked it, along with the Toonie (sponsored by the amazing Leanne Shirtliffe) into the pillow.
Syd woke up thrilled and yet another two dollars richer.
Everything was going well. We were keeping up the facade quite nicely. Until last night…
Fifteen minutes after saying goodnight, Syd appeared in the hallway holding a somewhat bloody tooth. Excited, she wrapped it in tissue (thank goodness), wrote yet another note, put it in her pillow and went to bed confident that she’d have even more money in the morning.
Ever the dutiful parent, I dug through my purse, produced a Toonie and…promptly forgot all about it.
Until this morning when she came down the stairs, shot me a look (further proof that she likely knows what’s up) and said, “Well, I guess the Tooth Fairy forgot. I’ll try again tonight.”
Wait, what? Ah…dammit.
Tooth Fairy Fail.
Pillow ready, tooth ready, note ready…still waiting.
I made up some lame excuse about the loss happening so late in the evening that is was probably too late to get on her rotation. Whatever.
I’ve set an alert on my phone for tonight and I’ve scheduled that pesky Tooth Fairy for a definite visit. Although I’m pretty sure she doesn’t pay interest on missed payments.
How about you? Tell me your Tooth Fairy Fail stories? And if you don’t have any…well, you’re a better Tooth Fairy than I am.
You are so not alone. Thankfully our toothfairy fail occurred last time during hurricane season. Poor Tia (our toothfairy has a name) was caught outside the eastern US coast during a hurricane. She was able to make it the following night after the hurricane made landfall. How my kids still buy these stories is beyond me.
I LOVE that story! And really…a hurricane? That’s totally legit!
Our tooth fairy is often late. That’s only one of the reasons she hasn’t been promoted up through the ranks of the many fine tooth fairies and is still stuck on our route. She has disappointed my children too many times.
LOL It’s always, “Stuck in fairy traffic,” or “Too many teeth to collect them all in one night.” What’s a fairy to do?!?!
Sorry about your little one. I am familiar with that morning look of disappointment.
Debra, that’s awesome! Your poor fairy hasn’t been promoted.
But really…I think ours will also be forever be stuck on this lame route.
And I’m not still not sure if it was a look of ‘disappointment’ or more one of ‘come ON Mom, pull it together’…I have my suspicions that she knows…
We have had that happen several times at our house. The tooth fairy is usually running behind, so when they are having their breakfast one of us sneaks up and puts the money under the pillow. When they are done their breakfast they check and are thrilled and not mad at the tooth fairy. I am so amazed that my girls still believe. My oldest keeps asking but I just can’t give in and tell her, so I just ask her if she believes and she says kind of and that is where it ends. At Christmas I tell her to Believe in the Magic, this may bite me in the butt one day but for now it is fun. (She still writes her letter to Santa).
Sorry for my ramble, this is my first time commenting. I read all your posts and love them, I so can relate! Thanks!
Twyla, thank you SO much for commenting. It really is nice to know that I’m not alone in this Tooth Fairy Fail. I thought about putting the note and money up there today while she’s at school, but her Dad always does the note. And knowing Syd, she’ll compare the handwriting…
I also have no idea how they still believe. But we also say, “Santa only comes if you believe…” And ya know what? I STILL believe and every year I have a stocking. Magic.
Ohhhh no!! Sounds like your cover worked just fine…and that your daughter is lenient to TF’s busy schedule!!! LOL!! Tooooo freaking cute…
I don’t think she’s going to cut her any slack tonight though.
So funny! Viv lost a tooth yesterday too. I was paranoid of forgetting so I put a toonie on my bathroom counter beside my toothbrush.
She knows it’s me…kind of… but she still got it.
Mine was in my pocket. Hmm.. Tonight it’s by my toothbrush. I’m pretty sure she’s going to throw the pillow at me if the ‘tooth fairy’ forgets again.
I can relate. In our house we’ve had a bit of a minor rebellion. The Wee Beast has decided he doesn’t want the Tooth Faery coming to steal his teeth. Yes…steal. That’s what he said. Not only that, I’ve been ordered into negotiations to have the other two returned. Returned. *facepalm*
You mean you don’t keep all the teeth forever and make jewelry out of them??
ha ha.
That’s awesome!!
“Stuck in fairy traffic!” Ha! Love that…feel certain I’ll be using that soon, too….
I like it. Rush hour in Fairy land is a nightmare!
no mother of the year for year, Ms. Elena. but then I never got it either and probably for the same reason. LOL
I’m pretty much resigned to that, Louise. And I’m pretty sure us, ‘trophy-less’ moms are the best.
i’m hoping – mind you i’m shooting for grandma of the year and I think I’m in the running LOL
Guilty as charged! I think the Tooth Fairy has probably run into traffic issues in most households. One of my sons used to tie string in elaborate configurations to his tooth fairy pillow and a finger in the hopes of being wakened so he could catch a peak when she visited. I can’t tell you how many evenings I spent crouched on the floor by the end of his bed easing that *^&%#! pillow out and back in again!
I still believe in Santa too, Elena!
Luckily, we live in an area with many children, so an overworked, forgetful tooth fairy is believable. On one occasion, she even had to lie down in a darkened room with cucumbers on her eyes to recover…
My brother said the first time they forgot, inflation kicked in. Their normal amount was $0.50. However, they felt so bad that they slipped two dollars between her stack of pillows before questioning her whether she’d check under ALL her pillows…or just the bottom one.
Epic fail avoided. But now the rate is $2. The older kids are PISSED.
You’re not the only one! I forgot one to be the tooth fairy for one of my older daughter’s teeth. Luckily, it had been REALLY WINDY all night, so she bought the story that it must’ve been too windy for the tooth fairy to fly through. And she even told her younger sister that’s what happened. Then once I forgot for my younger daughter, who is easily distracted, so I was able to scoot in her room after she woke up, stuff money under her pillow, and then ask her if she was sure she’d looked everywhere for it. She came in, lifted her pillow, and was completely convinced she’d just missed it! LOL
This is so cute. Poor Syd. I love that the Tooth Fairy has a work rotation and roster, too.
I post this link so that you can feel better about your tooth fairy-ness. These are actual happenings and conversations that occurred in my house.
http://accidentalstepmom.com/2011/05/03/the-most-unreliable-of-all-the-fairies/