Tooth Fairy Trauma

Well, this is a new one.

Gee finally lost his first "real" tooth. (He's had teeth removed at the dentist, but never one that fell out on its own.) There, obviously, has been much excitement surrounding this event.  Last night, he carefully placed his tooth under his pillow and (eventually) fell asleep.

Unfortunately, the tooth fairy is growing forgetful in her old(er) age, and when Gee woke up this morning, the tooth was still under his pillow, and, worse still, NO MONEY!!

Or so it seemed. When notified of this tragic event, the clever momma told him to wait a minute, and she would help him look. She then "went to the bathroom", but really found a crumpled dollar bill on her dresser. Hiding the money in her hand, Momma went into Gee's bedroom and rummaged around his bed.

"Oh, look! I found this money off the side of your bed! It must have fallen off. And I bet the tooth fairy left your tooth here for you to keep." Whew! Problem solved, right?

Not so fast.

Gee seemed satisfied for a couple of minutes, but then doubts started to creep in. Not doubts about the authenticity of the tooth fairy, oh no.  Doubts about the money. In short order, he was steadfastly convinced that the dollar bill was his, from "before", and he had somehow hidden it in his bed "a couple of months ago". The tooth fairy HADN'T come, and this dollar didn't count!

All my arguments to the contrary didn't sway him ("You spent your other dollar at the pool, remember? You didn't 'hide' your money, it's in your bank!), and he got so angry and frustrated with me that there were tears.

Sigh.

I had two options:  I could tell him the truth about everything, or I could simply agree with him.  If I thought for one minute that he was trying to scam me, I wouldn't give in. But he is genuinely convinced that the money was his, prior to this morning.

So the tooth fairy will make another visit tonight, and deliver two quarters or some such.  Maybe this makes me a bad mom, maybe not, but I honestly don't really care.  I'm not quite ready to burst the bubble of early childhood.