Journal entry by Barbara Bradley — Jun 30, 2012

Boy, we jumped right in to summer. It has been miserable. Yuck! Once it gets past the 85 degree mark I am ready for the return of fall weather, but I am enjoying a break from the hectic school mornings. The days are rolling by here. There has been no shortage of things to keep me busy. Nathan attended his first cub scout camp the week after school let out. This kept him occupied from 9-4 for a week while I took Katie to her normal therapy sessions. 

He just returned from spending a week with our friends Laura and Darren – AKA His other family 😉 His biggest concern was losing his tooth. After all, how would the tooth fairy know he wasn’t at home? He also wondered if the fairy would leave his tooth or take it. I admit it was a fair question. 

“Mommy, for my first tooth the tooth fairy took my tooth and left me a dollar bill, but the second tooth I lost she left my tooth. I still got my dollar bill but I guess she forgot to take my tooth. What will happen for this tooth? Why did she do that? And what does she do with all those teeth anyway? Does she hang them on a string around her neck? That’s gross. I bet that’s what she does. She kinda freaks me out.” (This kid’s imagination tops mine any day of the week.)

To all the kids in grade school wiggling that loose tooth until it hangs from a thread with great anticipation of a visit from the Tooth Fairy, this is for you. 

I never understood how complicated it would be to add the title of Tooth Fairy to my already full job description. Growing up I never held the Tooth Fairy in the same light as Santa or the Easter bunny. Even at the tender age of six I somehow knew she must be a bit scattered. Unlike Santa, the Easter bunny or any of the other childhood heroes, the Tooth Fairy works year round. She has to wait for the kids to fall asleep. She must remember that Timmy gets $20 for his first tooth but $5 for the rest, sweet Ella gets $1 per tooth but leaves a crayon-written note asking the fairy to leave the dollar but please don’t take her tooth because her mommy bought her a special box to keep them in, and William only gets an ‘I Owe You’ because his daddy doesn’t get paid until the end of the month. This type of data takes a detailed spreadsheet with formulas and pivot tables. It’s exhausting.

Let’s face it, this Fairy has been around the block a few times. I suspect she’s on her fourth marriage, but don’t judge her. She is just a tad trashy. She spends her days multi- tasking to get everything done. I am almost certain there is expired ranch dressing and questionable cheese in her tiny, fairy refrigerator. Her wings now sag and are coated with a little too much glitter. Her frosted tutu is a little too short. The lace bodice fits a little too tight. Her hair is a little too blond. She wears a little too much gold, shimmery eye shadow. She drinks a little too much fairy juice. When Mr. Tooth Fairy has fallen fast asleep watching Red Neck Vacation on his tiny TV, the tired little fairy is off doing her thankless little job delivering money and collecting blood-stained teeth. The fairy’s job is never done. So, in conclusion to all the children of the world, if the Tooth Fairy forgets to take your tooth or leaves a dollar bill instead of a $5, PLEASE let it go. 

On a fun note, Katie got accepted into an adaptive sports program and started water skiing a few weeks ago. You read that right – water skiing. It’s a program for disabled children and adults where they have specially made gear and equipment to allow people to engage in activities that they would otherwise never get to participate in. Kate is still young so she rides in my lap but the gear is made where we just ride on top of the skis. It is very cool and so wonderful that she gets to do something just for fun. In the winter they snow ski. I am not sure how she would do as we all know the little princess does not like to be cold. 
I have been feverishly working on turning our junk room into a play/therapy room for the kids. It helps that my childhood friend Karen is finally coming for a visit. She will be staying in said therapy room so I had an incentive to get it completed.

Katie does so much therapy during the week it’s very difficult to get her engaged in playing with toys at home. Hopefully this new environment will be a nice change for her. 
I gotta go. Tooth number three came out tonight. The Tooth Fairy needs to take care of business before she has another glass of fairy juice and falls asleep on her tiny, fairy couch.
Everyone have a nice, safe fourth of July. Be nice to the Tooth Fair