There's no Santa Claus. That was established at birth. But the whole tooth fairy episode -- yeah, that's not my fault.
Nicole heard about the tooth fairy at school (near as I can tell), and let it simmer in her brain for a while before she said at dinner, "Mom, I wish I had a loose tooth."
I knew she was after the money. Of course, it's always about the money. But I listened anyway as she said, "Because then I could put it under my pillow and the tooth fairy could come and take it and leave me a dollar."
She paused and looked at me for a reaction. When I didn't respond, she continued, "There's no tooth fairy, is there, Mom?"
I'll be known for always telling the truth, so of course I said, "No, Nicole, there's no tooth fairy."
Clint couldn't take it anymore and piped in, "Look what you've done to her. You've taken away all of her childhood ... [rant, rant, rave, rave]."
See, the way I look at it, it's not so much about childhood as it is about reality. And laziness. I couldn't be one of those parents who has to invent an on-the-spot algorithm to explain exactly how Santa and his reindeer make it around the entire world in one night. Too much work. Besides, I swear Nicole doesn't care. And it has made no difference whatsoever to her childhood.
Nicole finished the conversation by asking, "So, if I lose a tooth, can I still get the money?" (Told you it was all about the money.)
