Banking 101

Honor received some birthday money from Grandma.  Eight dollars...because she is now EIGHT!!!!!!!!  AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!  

Anyway...

The children have little locking banks with three slots in the top: save, spend, and share.   At this point, since money still doesn't have much value to them yet and since we haven't started an allowance, I let them put their money wherever they want.  Honor likes to make things as even as possible.


As she was rolling up her bills to put them in each slot, she let me know what the save slot was for..

"When this slot gets full, we take it to the bank and they attach a credit card to it."

Um...no.

Star Wars Bride

"Look Mommy!  ♫♪ Dun dun dun, da da dun, da da dun...♫♪ "

Ariana hands me a drawing of a man and woman stick figure. "It's you and Daddy getting married!"

"Were you trying to sing the Bridal March?" I ask with a grin.

She enthusiastically shakes her head "yes."

Good, because for a second there I thought I'd lost her to the dark side...

Company's Coming Over...

Ariana: "I HATE CLEANING!!! I'M NEVER PICKING UP TOYS AGAIN!!!"

Mommy: "Okay. But you won't be able to come upstairs until you get your section done."

Ariana: "But I don't want to clean the basement. I want to dust!"

Mommy: "I'll let you dust, but only after you've cleaned up your section."

Twenty minutes later...

Ariana: "I finished cleaning my section. Can I dust now???"

She grabbed the dusting rag and went to town.

Twenty minutes later...

Ariana: "I finished dusting. Can I clean the toilet in the basement?"

Mommy: "You can clean the toilet in the basement if you pick up all the dirty laundry and garbage on the floor in the bathroom first."

Ariana: "Okay!"

Ten minutes later...

Ariana: "I cleaned up the laundry. Can I clean the toilet now?"

Mommy: "Sure."

After the cleaning solution had been squirted in the toilet...

Mommy: "There sure are a lot of toys in here. How about I go get the brush, and while I do that, you clean the toys out of the bathroom. Once all the toys are picked up from the bathroom, I'll give you the brush."

Ariana: "Okay!!!"


I should win parenting awards...

Grandmaism

Honor just said, "Oh for Heaven's sake!"

She sounded so much like Paul's mom I almost cried laughing. 

Losing the Magic

"Mom, _______ says the Tooth Fairy isn't real," Honor said, barging into the boy's room while I was tucking in Samuel.

Let's get rid of everyone's belief all at once!

"Honor, go to your room." I didn't answer her unspoken question, though all eyes turned on me at once.  Is she real, Mom? They all wanted to know.  I tucked the boys in and left the question hanging in the air.

But Honor wasn't so easy.

"I just want to know...are you the Tooth Fairy, Mom?"

There it was. The question I had been dreading.  I thought I had a few more years. The kids are homeschooled...the Tooth Fairy shouldn't be outed at such an early age with no other kids to disillusion them. Unfortunately we do not keep our kids in a bubble. They have older friends...with big mouths.

Up until that point, the only one who had questioned the Tooth Fairy's identity had been Connor. But he had said it this way, "I think the Tooth Fairy is just pretend. I think that you are the Tooth Fairy."  He came to this conclusion on his own, since he knows Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny are just pretend. However, because he didn't ask me straight out, I was able to answer, "Why would you think that? You know, the Tooth Fairy doesn't leave money for children who don't believe in him or her."  Connor's belief skyrocketed from that point on and he is the Tooth Fairy's most ardent supporter.

Ariana just lost her first two teeth and the Tooth Fairy is a big topic of discussion around here. She treasures her note and bag from the Tooth Fairy. Samuel hasn't even lost a tooth yet. He keeps asking when the Tooth Fairy will come and visit him.  I was not ready to give up the fantasy of the Tooth Fairy yet. 

But Honor asked me point blank.

I had already decided that I wasn't going to lie about the Tooth Fairy if asked.  Pretend, yes, because I believe that children should believe in fairy tales and all things fantastical. I think it is important to foster a sense of imagination and adventure--to teach them to dream and that all things are possible. (This song captures it perfectly for me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmv9ApexH0A)  But I wasn't going to lie.

"Honor, isn't it more fun to believe in the Tooth Fairy?"

"The Tooth Fairy is fun, but I only believe in what I can see."  Wow. Heartbreaker.

"But you can't see God, and we know that He is real." (Now, just to clarify, I was not comparing God to the Tooth Fairy, but she scared me when she said that and I wanted to verify that she had full faith in God still...)

"We can see the Bible."  Whew. Good answer, Honey!

Just at that moment, Ariana had to go to the restroom.  With her sister gone, Honor cried out in frustration, "just tell me, Mom!  Are you the Tooth Fairy?"

So I told her.

"When children lose a tooth, it is tradition for mommies and daddies to hide a gift from the Tooth Fairy under their pillow."

"So, you are the Tooth Fairy?"


"Yes, Honey, but don't tell anyone.  We don't want to ruin the others' fun. ...  Does it upset you?"

Big dimple.  "No. I'm happy you're the Tooth Fairy."

I smiled. "I think the Tooth Fairy will keep leaving you presents under your pillow.  Remember, it is our secret, okay?"

She smiled back. "Okay. I'll probably forget you're the Tooth Fairy anyway."

I sincerely hope so.