Friday 29 February 2008

The Day the Tooth Fairy died...


In our house we have always been ones for magic. You know the kind of magic you create as parents ? This morning my #1 son came in to our bedroom looking pale. He said that he had seen my Man put money under his pillow and take the tooth that fell out yesterday. Does this mean that you are the Tooth Fairy? he asked. My Man denied it, but I felt I could not lie to him. He is 10.


He was devestated. Where are my teeth ? I don't have them any more. The look of awful realisation on his face was more than I could bear. He sobbed his heart out. And when he looked at me and said " The magic has gone from life.My life is broken. Everything I believe in is gone. " I just broke down.


He wanted me to go away and screamed at me to go. I can't go, I said. I won't go. I tried to explain that we never set out to hurt him. That every parent starts out trying to fill their child's life with magic - the excitement of your first tooth falling out and the Tooth Fairy coming. We try to make their lives magical and when we start we never think about how it will end. There is magic, I said. I still believe in magic and although this moment is hard you still have magic left in your heart. And when you have children you will pass that magic on. Its a gift of wonder that each parent wants to and should give their children.


I held him in my arms and told him that I knew this was hard, but that he could do it. He could deal with this and that it was part of growing up.


Its just horrible to see your child so upset, and maybe some might say that we shouldn't have indulged in make believe. But I am glad that we did. I am glad that he has had 10 years of wonder and excitement, 10 years of innocence. Children grow up so quickly these days and he will have to face worse traumas than this I am afraid. I am proud to have a son who is sensitive and imaginative, good and kind. I hope the magic stays in his heart and he can find a way to keep it alive.

4 comments:

emily said...

I am so sad for him! And for you! Poor you guys...what a day.

Mommy to 4 little people said...

I dread that day to come for my babies...your post made me laugh and cry all at once

The Neighbour said...

When you gonna tell him about Father Christmas???

Margot said...

I understand why you wanted the magic to keep existing as long as possible... I never believed in either Father Christmas nor the Tooth Fairy, etc... Not because my parents didn't want me too but because I was to focused on details and noticed everything... I recognized my father's shoes under the Father Christmas costume and I knew at once it was him... I was two.
I hope I will be able to create this same kind of magic for my children, later, as you did for yours. And I hope I will find the right words to tell them the truth one day, just as you did.
It must have been really hard indeed, but you did what you had to do. And I'm sure that he'll keep seeing magic in other things : the love you have for him, a little animal in the garden or just the way a dewdrop reflects in the mornign sun... That's the magic I still keep seeing everyday!