Did someone call the, TOOTH FAIRY??? Translated…
Early in the morn, my eight-year-old son came excitedly, “Mom! The Tooth Fairy came last night again! She took away my tooth, and gave me a dollar too!”, I’d smiled and replied, “congratulations! How will you, spend, that dollar?”, he’d smiled cunningly, “I will, use the dollar to pay up the debt I owed you, do have it!”, he’d, stuffed the one-dollar bill into my pockets, then, hummed his way to brush his teeth.
In the U.S. the tooth fairy’s popularity is as high as Santa Claus, every kid knows, that the tooth fairy loved the clean white baby teeth, the children who’d lost their teeth only need to place the teeth underneath their pillows, and in the nights, the tooth fairy will come and collect it, and leave the spare changes (of course, just like Santa, the roles are played by the parents!”
In my home, the money from the tooth fairy, I’d allowed my son to do what he will with it, until, the “Lego Incident”.
illustration from UDN.com
That day, my son brought home a high-end Lego set, other than the blocks the assembling manual, there’s also, the motor, it’s a programming code project designed by his computer instructor, for the students to assemble a Lego alligator, to connect the alligator to the computers, and to learn to write the programming to have the alligator open and close the mouths, blinking the eyes. My son loved Lego, and seeing this high-tech toy, he couldn’t help, but wanted to start on it, I’d immediately told him, “this is a loan from your instructor, after you used it, you need to, return it completely to your instructor, do NOT mix the pieces with your own!”, he’d, promised with his hands raised up high, then, opened up the box.
A few weeks later, the teacher told that the following day, the Legos will need to get, turned back in, but my son started panicking, “Mom, twenty-pieces of Lego had gone missing!”, my husband and I blew UP instantly, then, with English and Chinese mixed, then, we’d, fumbled through the, entire house, and we can’t, find all the pieces, my husband and I, with my son too!
I’d quickly, looked the set up online, this was, an, expensive set all right, cost at $200U.S.! Finally, I’d found a preowned set, with the pieces missing, for $40U.S., and it’d had all the missing pieces my son needed, to return the school properties, I can only, bite down hard, and, click “order”, forty dollars! How much groceries can I, get for that?
As my son’s crying ceased, he’d started, writing the letter to his instructor, explaining why he couldn’t return the set back on time, and promised that as he’d received the ordered set, he’ll, make up for the missing pieces, and, return. I’d thought, that this should NOT be the end of this lesson to teach him to become, responsible, for himself, and so, I’d, stared him down, said firmly, “baby, you will be, paying for this sum, so you will, return back what you’d, owed to me!”, he’d lowered his head, thought a bit, “okay, from this day on, I shall, hand over all the tooth fairy’s money to you!” I’d smiled bitterly, there are only, twenty baby teeth, and each one gets him a dollar, that’s not, close to, enough! But seeing his face in pain, I’d, accepted his payment, and ever since, he’d started, paying off what he’d owed, with his, teeth.
I don’t know when my son will finally realize, that the night time tooth fairy who’d placed the dollar bills under his pillows IS his own mother, but I do know for sure, that EVERY time he’d lost a tooth, he will, remember this lesson on being, more responsible.
tooth fairy…
And so, this, is how this kid thought up of that creative solution, to pay his mother back, and, this is a lesson that the son will, surely, remember to HEART: to be, responsible, for his own behaviors, to KEEP everything that he had, in close check, because this is an experience, this child will, NEVER, forget!
Life, the Obstacle Course 