Tooth Fairy

Of all the charades we play as parents, maybe the most ridiculous is the Tooth Fairy. I'm continually amazed that my children, especially my eight-year-old, still believe. In addition to being the most ridiculous, the Tooth Fairy charade is the most difficult to keep up. The math is staggering. I have three children and, although I'm not a dentist, I think they possess 87 baby teeth each. I attempt to wake up and replace tooth for cash seemingly every night. That being said, I think I deserve some slack on the occasion when the Tooth Fairy gig doesn't go according to plan. .
My eight-year-old had to get a couple teeth pulled this week (luckily she has 85 other teeth to fall back on). It was a bit traumatic despite them being baby teeth. Apparently the roots of these teeth reached to the top of her skull. Anyway, she wanted to take these teeth to school and gross out her classmates. We had no reason to believe she wouldn't, so we determined we were off the hook for the night. Well, it's a women's perogative to change her mind, and that's exactly what she did. She was disappointed and my wife was looking for a logical (or any) excuse as to how this oversight could happen. I suggested she tell her the Tooth Fairy has gotten hit pretty hard by the credit crunch, and wouldn't be able to pay for her teeth until a new line of credit was established. Apparently that wasn't the right answer.