My daughter is a loyal Santa fan and every year she writes a wishing list to Santa.
Last year she went to Santa's website and emailed her wishing list instead of physically writing on a piece of paper.
She was excited when she got an email back from Santa.
She has never had any doubt that Santa does exist except for one time.
This one time she lost a tooth (this tooth was not the one got knocked loose on a pole in my previous article Toughen It up, Kid; This one fell out naturally).
9:30pm she went to bed and put the tooth under her pillow as usual.
For exchange of her tooth to be used in the tooth fairy's rock garden, tooth fairy is expected to be coming at night to take the tooth and replace it with a coin.
10pm I sneaked in her bedroom.
The lights were out and she was in bed.
I put my hand under the pillow, took the tooth out and left a one-dollar coin there.
The next morning, she came to my bedroom with the coin in her hand.
"Did you put the coin there, Mummy?" She asked.
"No.
Why? Did you get money from tooth fairy?" I pretended that I did not know anything about it.
"I know you put the coin there because I was reading a book in bed and I heard your footstep.
I turned the light out and you came.
" She said.
Oh, no! You caught me! "Where are my other teeth that you took before?" She kept going.
I had to open the box where I kept all her missing teeth.
There were five in the box.
"So tooth fairy is not real.
You are the tooth fairy.
" She said.
"OK, you got me.
I was the tooth fairy.
Now can you get ready for school?" I tried to settle this.
"Is Santa real?" She started worrying about her presents.
"Of course Santa is real.
Did you get presents from Santa every year?" I said.
She thought for a while and said, "I know that one year the bike was not from Santa.
It was from Grandma because I saw that bike in Kmart.
I liked it and Grandma was talking about buying it.
But Santa did send a trampoline in our backyard and Dad had to put it up.
" Hooray! Christmas morning, she got up early and went to the Christmas tree to check out her presents.
"What did you get from Santa?" I asked.
"Oh, a lot of things.
Look, Santa even borrowed our wrapping paper!!!" She yelled out.
Oh, the damn wrapping paper.
Next year I'll have to remember to get some new wrapping paper and hide it away.
She has now written a wishing list for this Christmas.
This year on her wishing list she asked presents for every one of us.
New socks for Dad, a surprise for Mum (As I could not think of anything that I want from Santa), a two square ball for herself and a monopoly game for all of us.
I went to Kmart to check out the monopoly game on a Saturday and she went with me.
In Kmart, we wandered around and I walked pass the monopoly game.
"What are you looking at, Mummy?" Here comes the question again.
"Oh, nothing, just looking around.
" I said.
"If you are looking for the monopoly game, I have asked for it from Santa.
" She said.
Oh, OK.
Be careful with the wrapping paper!