DATE ARCHIVES : April 2017

The Woman, The Myth, The Legend…The Tooth Fairy

Out of all the mythical creatures out there, the Tooth Fairy is one that completely baffles me. It also blows my mind that kids actually buy it time and time again.

Think about it, we get our kids all psyched up to lose their teeth to get a reward. Okay, I can buy that. But then, we tell them that this person called The Tooth Fairy is going to magically break into their house at night, which is totally fine, know exactly where their room is and exchange a tooth hiding under their pillow for money (usually). Then the tooth fairy magically disappears until the next time a tooth falls out.

What does she do with all of those teeth? Is she part of some strange teeth collecting cult? Is she a frustrated dentist? What about the money she leaves? Where did she get it? Inquiring moms want to know!

Thank goodness many kids just take the Tooth Fairy at face value and don’t want to interrogate her like I do. All of my curiosity got me to do some digging…okay actually some googling.

There are so many different reference points but the consensus seems to be that the concept of the Tooth Fairy originated in early Europe where it was a tradition to bury kids’ teeth when they fell out. From there, it gets a little fuzzy as to how the Tooth Fairy was born.

The earliest mention of the Tooth Fairy as we know her (or him, depending on what you believe) dates back to 1908. That’s when an article in the “Chicago Daily Tribune” mentioned that mothers should buy something at the five cent store to replace a child’s tooth that’s left under the pillow. Some say from there, kids started asking where their teeth went and stories of the mythical creature were created.

Fast forward to 2017 where the Tooth Fairy is still alive and well, at least in my house. My 7-year-old sometimes asks how she gets in. I tell her it’s magic and she still believes.

It always boggles my mind how we can be so hypocritical as parents to get our kids to believe in something. We teach our kids all about stranger danger, yet we tell them that it’s perfectly fine that some lady with wings come into the house every now and again to steal their teeth. But she leaves cash, so it’s cool. Then we tell them it’s okay to ring doorbells of people we don’t know and to accept treats at Halloween. Don’t forget the gran daddy of them all…it’s okay to sit on an old guy’s lap and tell him what you want for Christmas. Just like the Tooth Fairy he’ll break into your house. He won’t take anything though; he just leaves you what you asked for.

Ahh…the joys of parenting! But it comes with the territory.

If you sometimes put your fairy wings on to transform into your Tooth Fairy alter ego, what do you do with all the teeth?  While I don’t bury my kids’ teeth like they did back in the day. I do keep them. Is that weird? I have little baggies of teeth. So far there are seven. I feel bad throwing them away for some reason. I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do with them. I’ll probably show them to my kids one day once the mystery is revealed. Maybe we’ll make some strange art deco collage out of teeth, who knows?

For now, I’ll continue to tip toe in the darkest of night, cash in hand, and swipe teeth like a ninja in hopes my daughter doesn’t wake up. I’ll add to my strange teeth collection and pray the kids don’t find it. I don’t know how I would talk myself out of that one! Viva La Tooth Fairy…the woman, the myth, the legend!

 

 

 

To Bunny or Not to Bunny? That is the Question.

To Bunny or Not to Bunny? That is the Question.

The Easter Bunny.

It’s the tooth fairy’s second cousin and Santa’s third cousin, twice removed on his mother’s side.

Although they play the same game, there’s just something about the Easter Bunny that doesn’t sell well. Santa brings the magic of Christmas with reindeer and elves. The tooth fairy has a mystical quality about her, flying through the night, collecting random teeth and leaving money. Did anyone ever ask her where she got her money to hand out or what she does with those teeth? Hmmm…inquiring moms want to know.

Then there’s the Easter Bunny. He apparently has time to hop around to all the houses the night before Easter, eat a bunch of carrots, and leave baskets filled with toys made in China for kids everywhere. Oh, and don’t forget all the candy that will have your kids in a sugar coma by breakfast. How does he carry all of those baskets by himself without any elves or a sled? Although he must log some major steps on his fit bit, it’s hard even for a kid to believe.

When my kids were born and throughout their toddler time, we put on our bunny ears like any other good parents and did the bunny thing. We went to see the freaky person dressed in a bunny costume at the mall, put the carrots and water out the night before, and carried out the basket tradition Easter morning. I also did a little hunt, hiding small things around the house like my mom did for me Easter morning.

Now that my kids are 5 & 7, I’m wondering how much longer I can carry on this bunny charade. We did go to see the Easter bunny at the mall this year, only for my kids to tell me, “You know mom, that’s someone dressed in a costume.” Of course I know that silly rabbits, but Easter is still for kids…so hop to it and take a picture with the bunny. That wasn’t so hard of a sell, but as I was shopping for basket fillers this year, I was coming up with bunny block after bunny block. A lot of the things I used to put in their baskets felt babyish this year. The things I  really wanted to buy would raise too much suspicion and might blow the bunny’s cover. The Easter Bunny can’t give a gift card and some candy and call it a day. I know my kids will ask how the Easter Bunny hitched a ride to Barnes & Noble to get them a gift card. I don’t think they’d buy it if I told them there was a gift card kiosk at the CVS in bunny land. All of this got me thinking, do I do the bunny thing this year or pull the ears off of this charade?

I came to the conclusion that I didn’t want to rip off the bunny ears for them. I want them to continue to slowly figure it out, one whisker at a time. So, I put my ears back on, grabbed a carrot, and found two pre-made baskets that were do-able for their age groups. I just need to take off the WalMart tag. If I don’t, my kids will ask me how the bunny got to WalMart. I could tell them Santa took him, but that wouldn’t solve anything.

So, it’s full-on bunny this year. Next year, who knows? We’ll just take it one hop at a time.

Everyone Loves a Fairy Tale Ending

Everyone Loves a Fairy Tale Ending

Over the past weekend, we took the girls to see “Beauty and the Beast”. They were driving us nuts to go see it at the theater even though I warned them it was a two-hour movie. Honestly I didn’t know if I could handle sitting there for two hours with them. I was leaning towards waiting until it appeared in the Redbox, but, like good parents, we took them.

The packed audience included moms and dads, like us, with their kids. But that wasn’t all.

What I didn’t expect to see were people, young and old, without any kids. I questioned why they would want to see a “kid movie” if they didn’t have to? After the movie started, I began to see why. It’s not a “kid movie” by popular definition. Not at all.

Not only were the acting, music and costumes incredible, but the story itself is one I think everyone longs for deep down…a love story with a fairy tale ending.

Think about it. Everywhere we look there seems to be negativity. Whether it’s on the news or in our daily lives, it seems everyone has issues. It can be a real soul drainer. In real life, we hardly ever get a fairy tale ending. But, in the movies the possibility exists. For two hours we can escape and get sucked into a story and a world that has a fairy tale ending.  I did. I honestly would not have been aware of the length of the movie if one of my kids didn’t ask me when it was going to be over. I was so invested in the story. Ironically, I ended up enjoying it more than they did. My husband even admitted he liked it. Go figure!

As much as we would like, we can’t always create an imaginary world with a fairy tale ending, like our children. So, as I looked around the audience during “Beauty and the Beast” I couldn’t help but think and even hope that everyone was there because we all love that fairy tale ending.