The "Tooth" of the Matter

Ella lost her first tooth this morning. She lied about how it came to pass, claiming she woke up to find it in bed next to her. Since I wasn't born yesterday, this seemed like a dubious claim, but whatevs. Later she revealed that she actually pulled it out this morning (she was having trouble eating yesterday, and it was bleeding, so it was clearly ready) but lied because she was worried that we'd be mad. I find this curious. Maybe it was because she was already on thin ice (with me, anyway) for her two-hour hysteria fest over the single ant we found in her room and promptly killed? I get approximately 1.5 hours alone each day (work hours don't count). Children in bed should be sleeping. End of story.

I posted this news on Facebook, asking what the first tooth goes for these days. This prompted one "friend" to say something about how they didn't do the Tooth Fairy "lie" with their son. I'm sure she meant nothing by her choice of word (or maybe she actually was calling me a liar, but I could care less), but it made me think.

Yes, my children believe in the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus and—new this year—Leprechauns (my own doing). But honestly, I don't think of it as *lying* to them. First of all, they're only kids for a little while. They'll spend most of their lives dwelling in the harsh reality of the "real world" so why rush it? Childhood *should* be magical, and I personally think more harm is done by treating kids like little adults than by allowing them some flights of fancy every once in a while. Second, I think belief in fairy tales fosters their imaginations. My girls can play "Tornado" in a closet for an hour. And that, my friends, will come in very handy the next there's a tornado, don't you think? And third (and perhaps most important), I do not know for a fact that Tooth Fairies and the like don't exist. Do you? Just because I've never seen a fairy, doesn't mean they're not out there.

So on this momentous childhood occassion, I'm not going to spoil the magic by telling my six-year-old that the Tooth Fairy doesn't exist. Soon enough, she'll be able to Google it and make up her own mind. In the meantime, it's time to make some magic!

Thursday's Run:
Maybe taking three days off in a row agrees with me because today's run was super fast. Either that or my Garmin needs to be calibrated. Great running weather. Apparently the hot guy running without his shirt on agreed with me. His seven-minute-mile pace bested me but that was okay because if he hadn't passed me, I never would have seen him....