Growing up I didn’t believe in fairy tales the way most children do. By six years old I knew Santa Claus did not exit and I have no memory of ever receiving anything from the tooth fairy or easter bunny and as a result I am indifferent as to whether I should preserve or disregard these myths or fairy tales for my own children. I am all for fantasy and daydreaming, but I also encourage the acknowledgment of reality at a very early age. As a result my 7 year old now knows that we make believe Santa is real while my 5 year old is still struggling with acceptance of this concept.

I was a bit surprised when my seven year old lost his tooth and became excited in anticipation of the money he would receive from the tooth fairy. He promptly revealed the miniature trunk provided by the school nurse for transport when I picked him up from his after school program. As I tucked the boys into bed that night I reminded myself that I had to put a dollar bill under his pillow.

I awoke the following morning to a groan of disappointment, “Oh maaan! There is no money under the pillow!” I quickly realized that I forgot to exchange a dollar bill in place of the tooth. With quick DivaMom thinking I suggested perhaps the trunk prevented the tooth fairy from seeing the tooth and he should take the tooth out before bed next time.

Later that night we placed the tooth sans trunk under his pillow and guess what? The tooth fairy forgot! The seven year old was throughly disappointed exclaiming ” The tooth fairy forgot again”! I said “Well she has a lot of teeth maybe she’s busy. Let’s give her another chance”. We gave the tooth fairy a third try and she forget yet again.

After a  third night of being forgetful and a third morning of hearing nearly tearful cries of disappointment, I finally confessed “Mommy is the tooth fairy,  okay? I will give you money for your tooth.” The response was dead silence as both boys shot me smug looks of disbelief.  Sensing their unwillingness to accept my latest revelation I followed up with, “We can pretend she’s real…okay?” Satisfied, they both nodded in agreement.

That night immediately after I was certain both boys were asleep I slipped a five dollar bill under the my oldest son’s pillow. He awoke the next morning smiling with glee, exclaiming “Five dollars! She gave me five dollars! The tooth fairy gave me five dollars!” I said “Yes she did, it was late fees.” The youngest son smiled pleased to see his brother so happy and perhaps in anticipation of when he would be awarded payment for his first tooth. I couldn’t help but to flash a huge grin myself.

I learned a very important lesson from being forgetful a grand total of three times: children don’t necessarily want to know the truth. Even if they know we are only making believe that it’s real, sometimes they prefer a good story. I also realized that I enjoyed them experiencing the fantasy. It turns out that Tooth Fairy is one of the many jobs of a DivaMom. I can do the tooth fairy but I’m not too sure about the easter bunny.   But, I’ll wait to see how my boys feel about preserving that particular fantasy.