“Mommy MOMMY!!!! She didn’t leave a NOTE!!! Why wouldn’t she leave a note mommy? She ALWAYS leaves me a note that looks like a tooth with her picture on it! I just don’t understand!”
She noticed.
“Oh honey, I am so sorry! Maybe she was in a hurry. Maybe it was a busy night for her. But LOOK at those beautiful doll clothes she left you! Here, let me see them.”
She could care a less about the prize…it’s the note that she needs.
“The Tooth Fairy moved my baby dolls, mommy! They were sitting up when I went to bed and now they are lying down!!! LOOK!”
Yes. I tripped over them in the middle of the night trying to stuff the doll clothes (I bought months ago at JoAnn Fabrics with a coupon) under your pillow hoping not to wake you. I was out of cash, so I went to reserves box.
“Well look at that! She must have noticed your cousin gave you two more baby dolls to add to your American Girl Doll collection!”
“I still don’t understand it. She ALWAYS leaves me a note. A special note.”
My daughter has now spent most of the morning going through her sheets and under her bed over and over again looking for the cherished note. My heart aches…
“I don’t see it either. I wonder if it’s over here? Nope. Well, you have looked for hours, honey. I don’t think there is a note. I’m so sorry.”
“Maybe she will bring one tonight if she was too busy last night!!!”
“Yes. I bet she will bring one tonight!”
Oh, my dear innocent believing child. Daddy will make that beautiful drawing of the Tooth Fairy as soon as he gets home from work and stick it way down deep behind the sheets so you can continue to believe in the goodness of a loving Tooth Fairy.
My husband and I messed up. We forgot about the Tooth Fairy until it was way too late for him to take the hour he needs to make his delicate and beautiful piece of Tooth Fairy art. The first time he started this amazing handwritten “stamp” from the Tooth Fairy, I warned him that he would have to continue this tradition for years to come. I loved his dedication and his investment in our kids. We cut out paper to make a big tooth shape, then we write a letter to the child that is personal and encouraging. My husband then brands the note with a detailed description of the beautiful and loving Tooth Fairy. It’s a project. The kids get either a few bucks or something they spotted at the store that I secretly bought later. I vividly remember my little girl years ago longing to have this princess wand. The Tooth Fairy left it for her and she was amazed by the magic of the Fairy knowing exactly what she wanted.
What surprised me with this situation was her profound devastation of not finding the beautiful yet simple note. The doll clothes were squeezed in her fist while she desperately searched for the more important gift. The words and love from an Angel.
I took the kids to the pool while my husband created the missing magical letter when he got home from work. He hid it way down deep under the bed, with the hope that my daughter would find it later and her faith will be restored.
Home from the pool and showering and changing for a cookout, I throw out the bait:
“I still can’t believe the Tooth Fairy didn’t leave a note. Are you sure you looked everywhere? How about down here….”
“MOM! THE NOTE!!! THE NOTE!! IT’S BEAUTIFUL!!!! Let me read it to EVERYBODY!!!!”
Running around the house more excited than Christmas Morning. Faith so easily restored.
Oh how many lessons this story packs full: How significant some small wonders can be for our children. The realization that “things” truly aren’t as important as “words” or “love”. Change or disappointment is always heartbreaking for a child (and a parent). And finally, the brutal realization that when we drop the ball with our children, they will notice and suffer.
But what I kept thinking about last night after the drama played out was this:
How many notes do we look for and never find?
How many balls have people dropped in our life?
How many empty promises have we faced?
How many times have we looked desperately for the words and love from someone special in our lives?
How often do we give up on the magic and power of His Presence?
I desperately look for notes.
I have tossed and turned in the waters of disappointment.
I have held my breath waiting for words of encouragement from loved ones.
I yearn for His Presence and frantically look under beds and covers to find evidence.
Sometimes it all comes together and faith is restored in both people and God. Sometimes it doesn’t.
And when I can’t find those affirmations I long to see, I trust that God has laid them somewhere beneath the bed of my life and in time…
I too will find them.
What a beautiful post Chris! I’m so glad Cassidy’s Faith was restored and I pray she has the same restoration to her soul throughout her entire journey in life. I chuckled when reading the theme of this posting because just last week the tooth fairy totally forgot to come to Kelsey….(crud!!) and Kelsey always leaves a note for her and asks her to write back. Now, mind you we don’t have any cool autographed picture and note like you guys and never any gifts just a dollar or two, but I do at least usually always leave a dollar and some response on paper hoping she doesn’t recognize the writing. Last year she asked the Fairy to please give her wings so she could fly…..the Fairy responded ‘Keep on Believing’ with as unfamiliar writing as she could muster up…
As Kelsey realized the Fairy hadn’t come, I pulled the ‘She must have just been so busy since it was a Saturday night, honey, leave it all just the same and I’ll bet she’ll come tonight’……geez. You won’t believe it but I totally forgot AGAIN!! Luckily, the Angelic power of the ‘tooth fairy’ was with me as I was able to catch her in the morning sleeping late! I slid the dollar bills under her alarm clock and just made a smiley face with x’s and o’s on her note, praying she wouldn’t wake up to see me!….I had to try something!!
Not my best moment…but her Faith was restored nonetheless….whew!
May our children grow up to always know their God is never too far under the bed covers. And you don’t have to wait until the next night for Him to show up. He is always there, every second, waiting to deliver us from all our fears, all our doubts. His magic never fades despite our unfortunate loss of childlike wonder drained from us by the ‘real world’ and the rough waters that life brings. His pursuit of us never stops despite all our shortcomings and doubts, and His Words of comfort never need to be out of our reach. May they always feel the comfort of His relentless love. His power to restore our souls and change our lives is so powerful that any Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, or Santa Claus can never compare. Will I miss the wonderment in their voices, faces, eyes when they no longer believe in Santa, Bunny or Fairy the same way?? Only if that wonderment is not replaced by their amazement and fulfillment with love for their Lord and the magic He does every day in their lives. If that most important prayer is answered, then the inevitable transition out of the holiday fantasies will be an easier chapter of childhood to close.
Dear God, may our children always know they don’t have to search their bedrooms for You…ever…help them see You, hear You, know You…for You are right there. Thank you so much dear Heavenly Father. In His name I pray….Amen.
I LOVE THAT STORY!!!!! Hilarious and so true to life as a mother!!! SO glad that sweetie slept in so you could sneak the note and money! I remember literally FALLING down the stairs in the middle of the night scurrying to do the last minute TF job in the old house. Cass was so sick and I was thoroughly exhausted, 3am- had that AHA! moment and ran down the stairs in the dark to get a toy- fell all the way. Just sat and cried at the bottom of the stairs. Classic moments of motherhood!
Love this story! Brought back memories of similar antics in our household. would love to see the “tooth fairy art” sometime.
Thanks Marcia!!! Next time you are over- we will show you derek’s artisic gift!! The kids have saved them all 🙂
Love this! You are such a gifted writer!
Oh thank you sooo much!!! Means so much to me that you take the time to read and to comment. That is so encouraging!!!
AHH yes…the inevitable! I never missed any tooth for Keegan! Every loose tooth was monumental, he always got a dollar ($1) and would purchase chicken nuggets at Wendy’s with it. Of course, we began our tooth fairy journey at 2 years old thanks to a spill out of the bed.
Kaeli, however…
I will never forget being sound asleep in my cozy warm bed, vaguely hearing my bedroom door open and sniffling coming towards me. My sleepy eyes open to see my beautiful brown eyed girl standing in front of me. Wondering why she was waking me, I was still tired! Rude child…selfish mommy.
“Mommy? The Tooth Fairy forgot to come…” she stated quiet, brave and confused, her feelings hurt.
Oh no…no…no!! I forgot!! There were so many things going on in my life at that time, I wanted to explain to her. But I couldn’t! She still believed, and I wanted her to still believe!! Okay, “Mom of the Year” Fix It!
I assured her that she must have missed it.
“But Mommy, she left my tooth. Why didn’t she take my tooth? She always takes it. You said she she plants trees in Fairy land with them. Why didn’t she want MY tooth? I brush them so the tree would grow big and strong…”
QUIET CHILD…I AM TRYING TO THINK!!!
“No, honey…um… I asked her to leave some teeth for me to keep. So I can show them to you when you get older…” I waited to see if she was buying it…
“You have some of my teeth?” Kaeli is infatuated with all that stuff, I had her. I jetted into the kitchen, frantically searched for my purse, grabbed a dollar, and went into her room.
I fake searched her room while she stood in the doorway thinking of the potential of seeing her old teeth, “Do they still have blood on them Mommy? Do you have Keegan’s teeth?”
Slight of hand move and voila!! A dollar bill, “See honey, you just missed it tucked behind your pillow…”
We then went and looked at all her teeth!! I felt like such an ass!!
LOVE LOVE LOVE this story!!!! Now THAT is a comment that THRILLS ME!!!! So glad you took the time to share your hilarious and soooo true to life story! I could picture every detail you shared!!! So many times we save our butts in motherhood at the brink of disaster!!!! Thank you SO much for sharing!!!!!
Any parent can relate to this story. I too have forgotten once before for Megan, but quickly recovered with a tale to tell her. Jacob hasn’t lost any teeth yet (he’s 6!) but I’m sure he will soon. Love the fact that you have such a tradition that I’m sure they will remember forever!
Well Jacob should be just around the corner!!! And then you have Ethan!! You guys will be tooth fairy EXPERTS at that point!!! 🙂
Great story Chris. I can totally picture Cass frantically searching!!!
Thanks Ang!!!! Oh yes- the poor girl’s heart was broken! She’s got her mother’s passion…. 🙂
Simply beautiful post in every way. I could feel your ache coming through the words. And her need for the note. So glad that the Tooth Fairy came through after all. 🙂
Thank you so much Ashley for reading and commenting! Your encouragement is an added “note” to my stash!!!! 🙂
This is beautiful. I love that your husband takes the time to create such a special note, and I’m happy you were able to sneak it in.
There are times when I’ve been looking for a note in life, and haven’t found one. This was a great reminder to hold on to the ones I have already collected for those times.
Thank you so much Tracie!! My hubs can draw a Tooth Fairy like no one else!! It is truly a precious thing…
I am so glad you can draw on the notes you DO have to get you through those no-note times. I love that you really got the true meaning of this post!! 🙂
Beautiful story. My parents didn’t have a computer when I was a kid and our notes from the Tooth Fairy would come on this beautiful pink computer printed paper. I later found out my grandfather did it on his Mac. To me, it was magic.
OH that is just PRECIOUS!! I hope my kids hold the memory like you do… “magic” is a treasure to hold on to throughout all our lives!!! 🙂 Thanks so much for reading and sharing Tamara!!!
Ahhh, Chris! I can’t believe your husband draws such a beautiful picture! Wow!! Such great insights from our life lessons too! You are truly a gifted writer.
Oh thank you so so much Kari. Your encouragement means THE WORLD to me!! 🙂 And yes, Derek is so sweet when he concentrates real hard on his Tooth Fairy image…first in pencil just in case he needs to correct something! Precious dad that he is.
Oh I loved the way this ended with the analogy of the “notes” we look for. If only our faith was so easily restored. What a sweet tooth fairy tradition your husband does!
I have a tooth fairy tale too. http://www.themommymess.com/2011/06/me-and-tooth-fairy-just-dont-get-along.html
I know I know… but there are times it is easily restored!!! Sometimes… those really powerful “notes” turn your world upside down with joy and fulfillment and supply all the provisions you need for that moment in time. You have a few…I’m sure of it!! 🙂
LOVED your Tooth Fairy story!!! HILARIOUS!
I dropped the ball last month with my daughter’s very first tooth falling out. I fell asleep waiting for her to fall asleep. She woke up at 2AM crying that the tooth fairy didn’t come. Dang! I convinced her to go back to sleep and forced myself to stay awake to get the job done. Thank God it worked. She has another tooth loose, so hopefully I’ll get it right this time.
That was a beautiful story and a great lesson on the things in life that we desperately seek and can’t find. Thank God for the things we do find that, like you said, can get us through the times we were unable to get the encouragement or feel God’s presence.
Oh I have BEEN there Hope! Waiting for the kids to fall asleep… and so many times I get jolted awake at 2:00am realizing in a panic state that we had forgotten once again!!! I can’t tell you how badly I feel that my hubs has to get up and work on the image for an hour in the middle of the night!!! On more than one occasion, I let him sleep and left him a note early in the morning to get it done before he flies out the door to work. (He’s out before we all even get up usually)
Thanks for supporting the true message in this story Hope! 🙂
Oh man! You and I are soul sisters…I swear.
AH….I always love to find a new soul sister!!!! I am smiling ear to ear. 🙂
It’s really just those small notes that are most meaningful. I am so happy she got her note in the end. It sounds like your husband really created a beautiful memory. He might need to make a few more and keep them in reserve. 🙂
Okay…that is just BRILLIANT Jennifer!!! Why the HECK didn’t WE think of that!!???? Geesh. Go figure. I am running to Derek right now to tell him to get on it!!! 🙂
Hi Chris! Yes, it’s sometimes the small things that make a great impact! Thanks for reminding us of this very important lesson. Have a wonderful week lady!;-)
Thanks so much for stopping by Michell!!! I know how much time it takes to visit all the links in your “Doing YOU well” link up!!! I’m getting over there SOON to visit more… 🙂
Oh man..just remembered to add your link. Sorry Michell!!! Multi-tasking FAIL. LOL
Oh I loved this post so much. I think we all still have that little girl deep inside us still looking for notes. We’ve walked through some major deserts in the last 5-10 years and I remember times feeling just like your daughter. So desperate and silently screaming for *something* to be an encouragement. Beautifully written and so thought provoking!!
Thanks for stopping by Stinker Babies. I’m so happy to be at The Mom Cafe!
Oh how I understand where you have been… desperate to find some notes of encouragement. I don’t think there is anyone who hasn’t been there at some point in their lives! I am so glad you stopped by Ashley!! Thank you so much… 🙂
And when we don’t get our note…do we give up too soon in the looking for it?
Great point Kimberly! Sometimes we give up too soon… and fail to find the blessing that was ours to have. Thank you so much for sharing that beautiful and convicting thought, and for stopping by! 🙂
Aw…I love this.
Thank you! I so appreciate your response to this story… 🙂