Fear Of The Fairy

Everyone is afraid of something. You know you are. I'm afraid of tons of stuff. The thought of sitting on an airplane makes me stop breathing. The thought of all the pills in the world disappearing makes me cry big, salty tears. Fear is irrational, that's what makes it so crazy.

Addie Bean is afraid of the tooth fairy. She has told us the fairy is a boy that is lurking around here every night. We have exhausted ourselves trying to explain that the fairy only does a quick drop-by when you lose a tooth. It's wasted words. She is convinced he is trying to get her. The other night she told me, "I am so sick of seeing the shadow of that tooth fairy's head!" I stared at her with intense curiosity. She continued, "His head! His head! I can see it! Will you call him and tell him I'm sick of it!?" It turns out that the haunting shadow is cast by the armrest of the chair in the family room. With scientific logic, I explained this to her. Again, wasted words. Every time she walks by that chair now, I hear her say to herself, "there's his head.....". The girl is only 6. She has a serious amount of teeth yet to fall out. The boy fairy is going to be around for a while.

Any advice about fear is welcome. You must consider your audience before offering. This child lives in THIS household. That already sets her threshold for crazy pretty high. I mean, come on, she is afraid of a boy with wings that brings you money. Sounds pretty fantastic to me, but I guess fairies can be scary. Especially those whose heads cast a shadow.