(Please forgive the reference to the MTV program in the title of this post, but it seemed appropriate.)
I guess sometimes parents carry on these silly charades with their kids too long. I'm talking about those things like putting out milk and cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve.
Now Santa is something we never really promoted at our house -- even when I was a kid, it never really seemed feasible that he could fly around the whole world in one night, visiting every, single household. Even when I learned about the date line and time zones, I just couldn't buy it. And the chimney thing? Forget about it. Needless to say, I never tried to sell the Santa myth to my boys.
Tooth Fairy though? That's another issue. We sold it and they bought it; hook, line, and sinker. At least for the first few teeth anyway. After about age 7, kids begin to be a bit more skeptical and the ruse becomes harder to maintain.
However, if you're a kid, and somebody is throwing money under your pillow, why question it? Right? Even if you figure out that it's your momma, why mess up a good thing?
So, it continues. Last week, our 9-year old lost a molar. We saw him put it in a bag and he happily and loudly announced to no one in particular that he was going to bed and that the tooth would be ready for the Tooth Fairy to claim. I guess sometime in the early morning hours, the 'Fairy' sleepily made the switch, without paying too close attention.
The boy bolted out of bed that next day yelling "I tricked the Tooth Fairy!" holding both his tooth and the fin that had been left behind. Closer scrutiny of the alleged tooth-in-a-bag revealed a pretty good facsimile of a tooth made of spit, notebook paper, and clear tape.
I thought it was pretty clever and was secretly proud of my boy. The mother was less than pleased, although probably amused to some extent (though she'll not admit it to the boy). He will soon learn another cool life lesson, as he has at least one more molar to loose: Never slap your Cash-Cow and expect it to keep giving you milk.
