The whole tooth

Allie lost another tooth last night, and this one without the hour of agony and crying beforehand. She lost her first bottom tooth before her fifth birthday and three years later, maybe that's actually getting better.

I think she knows that the tooth fairy's not real, because she asked to put her tooth in a small bowl by the side of her bed. Thank goodness, because believe me when I say that it isn't easy sliding your hand around under the pillow she's sleeping on, desperately trying to find a tooth that's about one third the size of a kernel of corn. And then I have to go back in and put the money underneath. She hasn't woken up during the operation yet, but maybe I'm worrying for nothing.

Last weekend, Allie asked if the Easter Bunny was real. Let's see--she already knows that my company put on the Easter Egg scramble we were on our way to at the time. She knows that her Auntie Pam puts out the eggs for the hunt at her house each year. And I think it's unlikely that at eight years old, she would believe that a bunny rabbit could deliver baskets around the world. So I told her that no, the Easter Bunny isn't real.

Greg yelled at me when I told him, but I really don't believe she still believed. How long am I supposed to lie about a rabbit? Allie started to ask more questions, but I told her we'd talk about it later, not in front of her sister, and it hasn't come up again. In the meantime, she's enjoying the candy she's already gotten for Easter and she's enjoying the two 50-cent pieces she got for this tooth. Maybe if I keep giving her chocolate, I won't have to answer any questions about Santa Claus.