The Tooth Fairy Cometh . . . Or Not

Hallie lost another tooth the other day. It's a front one so she looks extra cute when she smiles. I just love those toothless grins.

Hallie is six and still firmly believes in Santa, the Easter Bunny, that George Lucas can direct, and of course, the Tooth Fairy. So the night her tooth fell out, she promptly and carefully placed it under her pillow, giddy with anticipation for the inevitable visit from the Tooth Fairy.

Keep in mind that I tucked Hallie in and witnessed the placement of the tooth.

The morning dawns and I go to work early, before the rest of the family awakens. Wifezilla wakes up and Hallie soon saunters up to her, groggy but reasonably awake. She says to Wife, "The Tooth Fairy didn't come last night."

Yup. Wifezilla and I completely forgot to put some cold hard cash under Hallie's pillow.

Wifezilla, completely stunned, stuttered a couple of "uhs," but before she could produce a lame explanation for why the Tooth Fairy neglected her life's work, Hallie said, "Yeah, I think there's two reasons why the Tooth Fairy didn't come last night. My tooth was a little yellow and was on the yellow part of a flower on my sheets, so I don't think the Tooth Fairy could see it very well. Or, I took too long to fall asleep and the Tooth Fairy couldn't keep waiting for me. I'm going to try falling asleep faster tomorrow night."

Thank god for floral-patterned sheets and active imaginations.