Truth Hurts

Angie came up to my office last night. She asked me what I intended to do that evening with respect to Cassie's second lost tooth since Thursday. Basically, she was looking for a plan for that evening's Tooth Fairy (T.F.) activities.

After explaining to Angie what I had in mind, she let me in on the fact that Cassie had been asking her if the Tooth Fairy is real. Angie thinks that honesty is the best policy in these situations. Me, I prefer to lie my ass off. I think that we should let the kids believe as long as possible because once it's gone, it's gone forever.

Our differences in opinion caused a major battle when Angie decided on her own to let Cassie in on the Easter bunny secret. I was livid when she did. The way I look at it is that I only get one shot at this stuff with Cassie and I want to enjoy it for as long as possible. So, even though the Easter Bunny was gone, I still had Santa and the Tooth Fairy....now, I only have Santa.

After Angie told me about Cassie's questions, I called Cassie up to my office. She sat on the bed with me at my desk. I asked her about her questions and I asked her if she REALLY wanted to know the truth. She said she did. I asked her why it mattered and she told me that some of her friends told her the T.F. wasn't real. I asked her again if she REALLY wanted to know, and again she said yes. So, I went against my better judgement and told her the truth - that mommy and daddy were the T.F.

She clearly didn't believe what I was saying. Had I thought more quickly, I would have told her that I was only kidding and left it at that...but I didn't, I said it again,

"Mommy and Daddy are the Tooth Fairy"

I felt like a monster...I FEEL like a monster. You should have seen her; she looked like someone that just got punched in the stomach. She asked for proof. I told her about her tooth exchanges, including the one that happened two night previous. She asked to see the teeth. I had the first one in my drawer, so I showed her. By then, the truth was starting to sink in and that is when I made my most serious mistake of the evening.

I told her that now that she knew the truth, that the tooth for cash thing was off the table.

By her reaction, you would have thought that I just told her that her best friend, favorite puppy and Joe Jonas were all just killed in a freak accident. She bawled. Not for a couple of minutes, but for a long while.

It seems that her being upset had nothing to do with the actual demise of the T.F., but with the fact that she wasn't going to get cash money anymore. I tried to console her, but she was having none of it...so, what's a good dad to do? I told her to put her tooth under her pillow and we'll see what happens.

She woke up and the world was all well again. She had $2 more than the day before.

That's the cheapest crisis avoidance fee that I have ever paid, and well worth it. In fact, I think she thinks that last night's revelation was nothing more than a dream. Mom told her that she didn't put the money under there, and I said the same. I told her I passed out and never came downstairs to do it.

So, that $2 not only repaired the hurt that she felt, but I think she may actually believe in old T.F again. We'll see - she's got some more loose teeth.

SL