He was against telling thier children there was a Santa Claus and a Tooth Fairy. She, on the other hand, didn't want to deprive them of what she believed was their right to experience childhood fantasy.

They had been raised very differently. Her parents had been free spirits, Hippies, if you will. Reality for them was someplace that you had to go for a while. Santa and his elves were a very real part of life. The Tooth Fairy was as much a person to her as her brothers and sisters. The Tooth Fairy had always left at least a quarter. Once she had found a little feather under her pillow with the quarter. Her mother exclaimed, "Oh! Look at that! The Tooth Fairy flapped her wings and a feather fell out." Although she became more aware of the Santa imitators during the holiday season, she was convinced there was a real one at the North pole. Her parents never denied the existence of Santa Claus. When she was around 10 years old she started asking if there really was one. They always said, "You don't have to believe in him, as long as he believes in you." She wanted Biff and Bunny to have that same feeling on Christmas Eve that she did. --- Anticipation.

Lance gave his wife "The Look". He shook his head impatiently. When they were younger her romanticism had been cute. They were parents now and he thought reality was something his children should be taught. They were 4 and 5 now and he wanted them to grow up knowing exactly how things happened. He remembered when he and Sunny had announced her first pregnancy. His Mother-in-Law had started cooing about storks and cabbage patches. She told Sunny how to decide the sex of the baby. If you wanted a boy you ate bananas and carrots and celery and cucumbers. For a girl, eat peaches tangerines and soft pudding. She showed Sunny how to find out the sex of the baby by tying a ring to a piece of string and wave it over her belly. If the string started to move back and forth, it was a boy. If it circled, it was a girl. His parents were there for dinner too. They heard this nonsense and just looked at each other. While his Mother-in-Law proceeded to go on and on about old wives tales. His mother just looked on and said "Sunny is going to an obstetrician and when she's about 4 or 5 months along, he'll do an ultrasound and will find out if it's a girl or boy." His father, very scientific-minded, started talking about amniocentesis, C-sections, spinal analgesia, etc. His Mother-in-Law gave them a verbal tour of her labor, childbirth and breast feeding. She had never seen a doctor and when she went into labor she called six of her friends to stay with her. They were living in a commune in New Mexico at that time and there was no hospital anywhere near them. Sunny's daddy had sat outside the door, beating a drum.

After a few breaks in the narrative, when his mom spoke of how dangerous having a baby was, his dad gave statistics on stillbirths when women delivered outside a hospital. He had to change the subject when he saw Sunny looking a bit scared. They had reached a compromise. She would go to a hospital but be delivered by a midwife.

The Tooth Fairy thing came up when the 5 year old came home from pre-K talking about the story he heard in class. It was all about how the Tooth Fairy went around buying kid's teeth. He had started to explain to Biff about how baby teeth came out so adult teeth could come in. Biff squirmed off his lap and said, "How much does the Tooth Fairy leave? Could I put a piece of white lego under my pillow and see if I can fool her?" Bunny started crying, " I don't want the Tooth Fairy pulling out my teeth. My mouth will be all bald!"

This was the first time he and Sunny had a real disagreement. They had both presented their points of view to the kids. He held out the dentist's way of doing things and she told them the Tooth Fairy stories. They let the kids choose. Biff took the Fairy because of the economics involved. Bunny would rather see the dentist because she could stay awake and watch.They didn't get into the Santa Claus thing.

Sunny looked at Lance. She had never realized what an unimaginative man she had married! When they were dating she would explain things like rainbows and 4-leaf clovers. He would laugh and then talk about water density and prism effects. They would go off walking to look for the pot of gold. He gave her a thumbnail course in Mendel's theory to cover the clovers and then they would comb through the grass looking for some. Now, if he heard her telling bedtime stories involving elves, fairies and the sandman, he would grunt "Idiotic." The next night he would do the bedtime story by reading them the stock market reports. Just like his parents had done for him. The only market her parents knew about was the A&P's dented can and day old bread section.

The kids were in the playroom where Lance was showing them how to use the erector set. Sunny knew he'd be on the computer in about an hour. GOOD! She pulled out her craft supply bag and reached under the hooked rug she never would finish. She opened the folder that had a full printout from MorningStar.com. She had been investing in stocks and bonds for 5 years now. She never told Lance that she had a portfolio that would yield enough to put both kids through any Ivy League university without making a dent. She had brokers calling her for advice.

Lance would never believe she could do things like this, so he didn't have to know. As long as she handled the checkbook. He never bothered to check it. Someday she might tell him.----Maybe.

"Sunny?" Lance yelled. "I'm in the computer room looking up some specifications. Please don't interrupt me. O.K.?" "Sure thing Lance." She responded while working on her little calculator. "I'm busy making angels for the Christmas tree." Not a big lie. She was making something. $$$.

Lance sat down and booted up the computer. He went to favorite places and took a few deep breaths. Into the chat room titled 'Servants of Doom Lake'. His screen name in here was Gandulf4u. He typed in---"Kneel, You insolent cur dogs. Your savior is present." His palms were sweaty.

Biff and Bunny sat in the playroom among the wreckage of the erector set. This was great! Mom and Dad were busy and quiet. They found the remote and settled in to watch "Spongebob Squarepants" followed by the Discovery Channel special "Ancient Egypt".

 

Writers' Corner: December Challenges Index :: E-mail

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