A Strapped Dad’s Little Fairy Tale

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Wednesday - March 08, 2006

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I think parents of today really spoil their kids. I, for one, am guilty as charged. Of course, I don’t believe that we spoil our kids any more than our parents spoiled us. All parents want their children to have more than what they had, it’s just that in modern times the perks seem a whole lot better.

It’s like I couldn’t believe it when our dad shelled out for a color TV. I felt like we were the luckiest kids in the neighborhood. On our birthdays we would get a check in the same amount of dollars as our age. That was a lot of money back then and it bought us a lot.

Certainly we are fortunate to have what we have. With so many people who have nothing, you can never take things for granted. Still the rate of today’s “child spoiling inflation” has gone up dramatically.

For instance, last month our 8-year-old daughter told us what the going rate was for one tooth under the pillow with the Tooth Fairy. She said her friends in school got 10 bucks. I tried to explain to her that it was a mistake and that the Tooth Fairy gave out quarters - $1 tops.

She said, “No Dad, it’s $10. I wouldn’t lie to you.” Of course she wouldn’t, so I accepted the fact that the Tooth Fairy was going to have to dish out some major cash.

As luck would have it, in that same month our daughter lost three teeth!

On the third tooth, the Tooth Fairy was strapped for cash and had to come up with the money before our daughter would wake in the morning and look for the tooth exchange under her pillow. The Fairy asked the mama Fairy and even the 16-year-old son Fairy, but they too had no money.

The person in the house with the most available cash was sleeping with her pretty little head over the tooth. The Tooth Fairy “borrowed” 10 bucks from the cash she had accumulated from the other two teeth. The Fairy didn’t count on her to go straight to her cash stash with the new money.

She exclaimed, “Hey, some of my money is missing! Dad, do you think it’s the same guy who took some at Christmas time?”