Almost all little kids have believed in the tooth fairy, Santa Claus, or any magical figure of some sort. They believe every time they lose a tooth when they go to bed, a tiny little fairy will come take their tooth and replace it with money. They believe that if they are good all year they will stay off Santa’s naughty list and get presents and not coal for Christmas. That they can go to the mall and tell the real Santa what they want for Christmas. As they grow up, unfortunately those beliefs fade away and the spirit is no longer there.

I was never one to believe in Santa because I am Jewish, but I did however believe in the tooth fairy when I was little. Whenever I lost my tooth I was so excited to get money the next morning. Once, I lost a tooth and I went to sleep in my sister’s room so I left the tooth fairy a note telling her that I was in there and that was where my tooth was. I truly believed in her and always wondered where it was that all the teeth went when she took them. I also wondered where she got all the money. Little did I know, this mystery would be solved soon enough by a mistake that my mom would make in the future.

One night I lost my tooth and as always I rushed to put it under my pillow for the tooth fairy. By this point I was a little suspicious if the tooth fairy was real because I started to hear she wasn’t from my friends. I put my tooth under my pillow that night and went to bed expecting money under my pillow un the morning. When I woke up, I immediately checked under my pillow for money, but there was no money. My tooth was also still there I was so surprised and this made me really think the tooth fairy wasn’t real anymore. I rushed to my mom’s room and asked her why the tooth fairy didn’t take my tooth or leave me money. She has a nervous look on her face and right then and there I knew the tooth fairy wasn’t real. My mom had forgotten to take my tooth and leave me money. She knew that she had ruined the tooth fairy for me forever so she figured she would just admit it. I asked her where she put all my teeth when she took them in the past. She showed me where she keeps all my teeth and I looked at all of them. I was so amazed to see all of my teeth in a Ziploc bag that I have ever lost in my lifetime. I examined all of my teeth and I found it so socking. Since I know knew about the fake tooth fairy, I had to promise my mom I wouldn’t spoil it for my little sister who still had believed in the tooth fairy. She no longer does either and I don’t know how she found out, but I kept it a secret from her. I would ask my mom for more money all the time in the morning and when I didn’t get the amount I wanted I knew she was responsible for it.

The day that the tooth fairy was destroyed for me changed the way I thought about all magical figures. Now I really knew that Santa Claus wasn’t real as well. I no longer expected a glittery fairy to come under my pillow in the middle of the night and I no longer expected Santa to come down the chimney. It was the events like these that made me that much less of a naïve child and I felt like I was a big girl and knew something that made me so cool.