The Tooth Fairy

  
 
   Addi lost a tooth on Monday.  
   There is so much in that small sentence that needs to be explained.  First of all, losing a tooth to Addi is not a long drawn out process.  We don't have to go days or weeks with seeing a tooth flap in the wind.  There are not evidences of teeth twisting around on themselves on the mere fibers of gum tissues.  No, with Addi, she announces that she has a loose tooth one day and it is out of her head the next!  Quite literally, she pulls them from her gum...root and all!!  No tears, no whimpering. Just a matter of fact statement, "Hey mom, I lost my tooth! See!"  In the category of "Statements I Thought I Would Never Say" was this..."Addi, quit pulling your teeth out of your head!"  Yep! Those words flung from my mouth one night after she had pulled two of them within 30 minutes of each other!  Did I mention that it was a canine on one side and a molar on the other?
     Disgusting, I know!  Try living it!
     The Tooth Fairy is a man according to Addi.  She puts her teeth in a sandwich bag and leaves it for the Tooth Fairy.  He comes for the teeth so that he can build a castle.  In exchange for her tooth, he leaves 9 quarters and a pack of gum.  (The number of quarters coordinates with her age.)  According to Addi, the Tooth Fairy is an average size man, like daddy, and the only thing she can't figure out is how he gets his wings through the screen to lift the window.  Now why we have entertained the Tooth Fairy is beyond me.  She had lost teeth in China and had merely thrown them in the trash.  But here, we have brought about the notion of a man needing teeth to build a castle out of rotting (literally) bones and we reward such absurdity with money AND a pack of sugary substance that promotes more rotting teeth.  (Oh, and as a side note...the Tooth Fairy actually keeps the rotting teeth AND records the date they were lost on a 3x5 card.  Now there's absurdity!)

      So Monday, a canine...eye tooth, comes out with a 1/4 inch root. It goes in the bag, under the pillow.  Enter the dilemma....The Tooth Fairy failed!
      Early Tuesday morning, The Tooth Fairy has gone to work.  Addi awakes and announces herself.  She has forgotten momentarily, in her morning stupor, about the Tooth Fairy.  Suddenly, the Tooth Fairy's Assistant remembers the tooth. "Addi, why don't you feed the dog right now, first thing this morning!  She is REALLY hungry!" (All the while the Assistant is frantically gathering quarters and a pack of gum under a dome of silence and stealthness that only she can manage!)
     Did I mention that we are trying to learn obedience in our household?  It is on going.  Obedience is a virtue that Addi simply can not grasp.  She would rather be independent and obey herself.  After all, this concept worked for her for 6 years while she was waiting on us.  This particular morning, when it would be most beneficial to her, Addi has forgotten our numerous lessons.  Obedience and feeding the dog like mom has asked, just flew out the window with the prospect of money and gum.  And disappointment is on the heels of it all.
      "THE TOOTH FAIRY DIDN'T COME!!" This proclamation is followed by stomping and utter disgust shown through the slamming of bureau drawers.
     And my work in covert operations ceases.  "He didn't?" trying to sound surprised and sympathetic while not jumping up and shouting, "If you would have obeyed me and fed the dog, the Tooth Fairy's ASSISTANT would have come!"  
    "NO!!! He didn't! I've still got my tooth!," said from a little girl who has no idea how to build a castle out of rotting bones.
     Refraining and straining from shouting, "Maybe you should obey your mother and feed the dog!," I reply, "Maybe he got lost.  Maybe he didn't know you lost a tooth."
      "Are you kidding me?!?  I thought the Tooth Fairy knew EVERYTHING!!"


And then He hit me.  The Master was about to teach.  He humbled me and gave me the perfect response...


      "No honey.  That's God's job.  ONLY HE knows EVERYTHING!"

No response from Addi.  Just a sigh.  A resolve.  A peace.   Sure she has a bag of rotting bones and disappointment in her hand.  But she has Jesus and the knowledge that her God is BIG in her heart.


And so God taught the lesson.  He taught me patience and to keep my big mouth shut. He taught Addi omnipotence and sovereignty.  He taught us both obedience.  And HE reigns above the Tooth Fairy!!