So about the Tooth Fairy...

 

As you may recall, we have had a flurry of Tooth Fairy visits this past year, as Lotta and Zibbi have BOTH been losing teeth.  Furthermore, you may recall the Tooth Fairy's waning ability to arrive the morning AFTER a tooth loss, leading to late fees and letters of inquiry.  

This last summer we implemented "Windy Wednesday" when we would have a socially distanced outside visit with our great friend Wendy (I somehow pronounce it Windy, according to many sources).  During one of the visits, 10-year-old Lotta suddenly says, "I know who is REALLY the Tooth Fairy."  And I responded utilizing my psychological training, "Tell me more about that..." Lotta said, "I'm looking at her."  We then started having a conversation about how she started becoming suspicious, and some of the hints that gave it away for her.  We also talked about how when you want to believe in Santa, you only look for ways that is true and when you are ready to believe in something else, you start noticing all the information that tells you something different.  Suddenly, she gasped and said, "So who's been eating all the cookies???"  To which I explained that her dad always MADE the cookies HE likes best, so....

At the end of the conversation, Lotta said she wanted to do everything she could to make sure Zibbi keeps

believing because she didn't think Zibbi was ready, at 7, to not believe in Santa.  I explained the trick of when Zibbi asks about Santa, rather than telling her a lie, saying, "What do YOU think?"  The thing that struck me about the entire interaction was how peaceful she was, she was truly ready to not believe.  Benja and I had just had a conversation about how disappointing it was for us to realize that Santa was not real.  Realizing that the world is actually not magic, it felt earth shattering.  Lotta however, seemed excited to be apart of carrying on the tradition with Zibbi.