When Does the Tooth Fairy Stop Being Real?

My daughter now knows who the Tooth Fairy is.

Last week she looked me square in the eye and asked, "Is it you? And tell the truth."

Was I really supposed to?

My mind raced. Lily is 9 years old. She probably already knows, right? But what if she doesn't? 

I'm pretty sure my son knew at 9 so I go with yes, then watch in horror as she dabs a tear from her eye.

"I'm sorry. I thought you knew," I said.

"I did, pretty much," she admits. "These are tears of joy because now I know for sure."

Or as I later realize she means, my mom now knows I know for sure.  

And just like that, a magical era that began five years ago came to an end. It's not just the Tooth Fairy who was leaving either. There was also the Garden Fairy. She arrived in our backyard when Lily was in kindergarten. 

A friend explained that if she left a note by some flowers, the Garden Fairy would reciprocate with a little surprise. Sure enough, she did. Tiny painted gnomes, colorful stones and fairy dust (also known as glitter) began appearing in our yard. 

And for the record, being the Garden Fairy is significantly more challenging than playing the Tooth Fairy. I once came face-to-face with a skunk, a possum and the sprinklers going on too many times to count while traipsing across the lawn in my bathrobe at the crack of dawn .

I'm not complaining, though. I loved being both fairies and was always prepared. I kept a stash of supplies--from flowery note cards to tiny figurines that I'd pick up in my travels to Michaels, Pier I Imports and World Market--tucked in the back of my top dresser drawer.

When I was growing up, the Tooth Fairy would leave a quarter under my pillow for each tooth. Beyond that, I never gave her or her relatives any thought. But my daughter did. She read fairy books, preferred getting little gifts to money (or in addition to money) and wrote both the Tooth and Garden fairies extensive notes with questions that required responses.

After the big reveal, I posted the question on my Facebook wall: "When do kids stop believing in the Tooth Fairy?"

"When he hears you telling his older sibling you're too tired tonight to stay up and leave anything," replied one.

My friend Susan, who is an artist, explained that when her daughter lost her first tooth she drew an adorable cartoon of the Tooth Fairy thanking her for it. "The next morning when my daughter woke," she wrote, "She looked at the picture, then at me and said, 'Since when does the Tooth Fairy draw EXACTLY LIKE YOU?'"

I quickly realized I was lucky Lily's fairy magic lasted as long as it did. Still, I had a drawer full of fairy bling left and decided to scatter it around the yard. It may be time for the fairies to say farewell, but they may as well do it with sparkly splash.