Oops!

Yesterday, my 10 year old daughter lost her 10th tooth.  She had a friend over, and the wiggly tooth was really bothering her.  The two girls sequestered themselves in my bathroom and worked at that tooth until it came out.  This is a pretty big deal, considering Molly has never before taken initiative in getting her loose teeth out.

She found one of the little plastic treasure boxes given to her by the school nurse and put her tooth out for the tooth fairy to find.

Only the tooth fairy forgot to visit the Rench Ranch last night.

This whole tooth fairy thing has me wondering.  Molly is going into fifth grade.  I have a feeling she knows the truth behind the tooth fairy, Easter bunny, and Santa Claus, but I'm not really sure.  She's not come right out and asked or said anything about it, but today when she asked why the tooth fairy didn't come, she had a knowing look in her eye.  In a way, it will be a relief when I don't have to be all of those things for my kids, but at the same time it will be sad.  It will mean they have lost a bit of their innocence; that they are taking another step toward young adulthood.

Perhaps Molly is helping me keep the fairy tale alive for her little sister.  Perhaps she doesn't want me to know that she has figured all of this out.  I'm not sure; and I'm for sure not going to ask.

But I am going to make sure the tooth fairy comes tonight!