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Thursday, March 25, 2010

Tooth Fairy Thoughts

The past couple of months I have been converting my parents' home vhs movies into dvd.  Yesterday we watched one for a bit that had my Great Grandpa Nelson on it.  I was always a little scared of him and the first thing out of Esther's mouth was "he's scary!"  Then she started firing off questions:

Esther:  "How come he's missing some teeth?"
Mommy (me):  "They fell out."
E:  "Why?"
M:  "Sometimes that happens when people get really old."
E:  "Did he save them or put them under his pillow?"
M:  "Neither... he probably just threw them away."
E:  "Why didn't he put them under his pillow?"
M:  "When you get older you just... don't."

At this point I can almost see the wheels turning in Esther's head.

E:  "Well, when I'm older I'm going to put my teeth under my pillow."
M:  "Sweetie, when you are in your 90's you can do whatever you want to do with your teeth."
E:  "Mom, is the tooth fairy real?"
M:  "Ummmmm...  it's time for dinner--I better start making it." (or some equally lame diversion in the conversation) 

I love Esther's curiosity--even though I often feel underqualified to answer her many questions.

1 comment:

b.liz said...

Haha! I love the quick diversion when Esther asks the tooth fairy question outright. So funny. It's always a fine line between lying to your kid and creating a fun tradition, isn't it?