The Tooth Fairy is on the Loose!
By Caprice Thurlow

I just had a moment of enlightenment regarding the tooth fairy. Yes, it appears that I have been found out, but it’s not what you think!

The other day my six year old daughter Madison was rummaging through my nightstand (probably not my best hiding place for old baby teeth). She found a little box containing one of her teeth and asked me how it got there. I lied, as all moms must do to keep the magic going, and said, "How did that get there?" (I have also used this line for artwork and homemade cards. I mean I can’t keep everything.) I said, "Silly tooth fairy, she probably forgot it in my drawer, she's not too bright ya’ know." My sweetie bought that one. Or so I thought!

She waited for her Dad to come home later that night and took him out to the backyard to ask him a question. (He knew she had found me out.) Madison told her Dad that she suspected I was the tooth fairy. Not just her tooth fairy, but THE TOOTH FAIRY!

She told her father the "dark secrets" of me digging in the backyard and burying kids’ teeth. We had not yet landscaped our new house, and our backyard more or less resembled a CSI crime scene. She also mentioned that I had lots of money that I hand out to kids (this part I am still trying to figure out — if I had oodles of tooth fairy money, I’d be at the mall.)

Lastly, she explained why I am up before everyone else in the house — because I had been working all night long! (She doesn’t know I crave the hour before she and her brother wake up. A cup of tea, emails and writing the “memoirs of kidom”, such as this one.)

She asked her Dad to help her look for my wings and also to keep an eye on me, as she knows, I leave at night. Such imagination.

My daughter also confided that my daytime naps are due to my “all night job,” flying and digging. The real reasons I am awake: getting the last of twenty-eight cupcakes frosted, two lunches packed, and the bills paid online before my body hits the bed. Thankfully my husband has me covered for a while longer. He said he would keep her guessing.

Oh, I have a new hiding place for teeth (closet, top shelf) and when I get my wings back from the dry cleaners, I will hide them too! I actually considered leaving a shovel out and digging little holes in the back yard, but then again, I don't want to be held responsible for future therapy on my toothless kids.

So if you see me flying around your neighborhood, don’t let the secret out. We moms must stick together!