Abby calls to me to come to her room. As I enter and see her big smile, I remember I failed as a mother.
I didn’t get up last night to take her tooth and place $2 under her pillow. I wasn’t the Tooth Fairy. My heart sinks as her smile fades. The tooth is still there. I immediately tell her she must go back to sleep. She looks out her window at the morning glow, confused.
“She only will come when you’re sleeping.”
I race back to my bedroom and confess to my husband my mistake, grab money from his wallet and wait… I wait for my non-sleepy child to sleep. It doesn’t come. I tiptoe into her room, the floor creaks giving me away. Her eyes fly wide open; she asks if I will lay with her. Yes! I’d love to. I can be sneaky. As I climb into her bed, I tuck the $2 under the pillow she’s laying on.
She checks her tissue. Of course, the tooth is still there. Damn. After what seems like an eternity, I remove the tooth from the tissue without her knowing.
Where do I put the tooth? I don’t have pockets in my pajamas. If I keep it in my hand, I run the risk of getting caught. Think. Think. Think. My mouth. I put my daughter’s tooth in my mouth. Yes, really. It’s gross. Trust me I know. I’d rather swallow a human tooth than tell my daughter the tooth fairy doesn’t exist.
Luckily, she didn’t question me and I didn’t have to swallow a tooth. The make believe tradition of the tooth fairy will go on. And I recovered from my mommy mistake.
[…] all have a nagging voice in our head, whispering and sometimes shouting at us about our missteps and potential missteps as parents and as […]
Good save mama! I can totally see myself doing something like this when the time comes.