There are certain family chores that Sean and I have delegated to each other during our 14 years of marriage.
We both get a little grossed out at certain things. That being said, Sean has been on clean up duty after sour stomachs have not made it to the bathroom in time. He’s cleaned out many slimy tissues off the floor of the car. But the man draws the line when it come to pulling teeth.
No. Can. Do.
So our agreement is, I pull, he pays.
Day before yesterday, I started laying the brick on one part of the wall in the dining room. I would work on the wall, then get the kids off the bus. Work on it some more, then homework, dinner, swim practice. After swim practice, the kids were getting ready for bed, and Mac came up to me and showed me his loose tooth. It was so loose, it was hanging by a thread. So I pulled it. Easy breezy.
He ran and got the tooth fairy pillow, stuck his tooth in the pocket, and carefully put it under his pillow for the tooth fairy to find and stick a dollar bill and gold coin in payment for the tooth. The dollar and gold coin is our standard tooth payment.
So I’m golden, right?! I pulled the tooth, now Sean had to play tooth fairy.
Only thing, Sean was beat and knew he couldn’t stay awake long enough for Mac to drift off to sleep. He put the dollar and gold coin on the edge of the dresser and asked me to cover for him.
So I went back to work on the wall, waiting for that excited child to go to sleep already. I crawled up to bed around midnight, and I completely forgot about the tooth thing.
Around 3 in the morning, I woke up in a panic. I raced over to the dresser, and grabbed what I thought was the dollar and the gold coin. Took the tooth out of the pocket and carefully placed the payment inside.
6 o’clock rolls around, and it’s time for Mac to wake up. He grabbed that tooth fairy pillow and ran in our room to open the pocket for us to see.
And he didn’t pull out a dollar, nor a gold coin, but rather something else.
A receipt and a quarter.
Mac was confused. He tried to act happy, but really, he was perplexed.
And Sean shot me the look. You know the one.
“Really?!!! Really, Brooke?!!”
I felt horrible. I had to think of something, and I to think of it quick.
Me: “You know what Mac? I bet the tooth fairy must have gotten side tracked by the brick wall on her way up to your room. She was impressed with how it’s coming along and inadvertently put the incorrect payment for your tooth in the pocket.”
Sean: “Don’t worry buddy. I’m sure the tooth fairy will more than make up for it when she comes back tonight.”
And the tooth fairy did come back, with an extra gold coin for the inconvenience.
And when I’m done with the brick wall in our dining room, it will certainly be worth its weight in gold.