Friday, March 8, 2013

Does The Tooth Fairy Come To Singapore?



Eliot lost another tooth. That is a big deal for a kid. Before bedtime, she wrote a carefully worded missive and wondered if the tooth fairy would be coming.
Because even a 7 yr old knows there are no certainties in life. Especially at night time.
A couple of nights ago, I read her a short story by Oscar Wilde called The Star Child. It's about a young boy who rejects his mother because she is a beggar woman. He was stolen from her as a baby in the forest and she only finds him after a desperate search that has lasted for years and left her destitute. But the child is not happy to see her since he had always imagined and told his friends he was a royal prince. He is disgusted by her ugliness and embarrassed by her poverty so he throws stones at her and calls her names. This image really upset Eliot, especially when I volunteered: "What if that were me?"
Last night, an old fear came back with a vengeance- her fear of crocodiles. Nothing I could say was comforting. Not even that there are no crocodiles in Singapore. She quickly pointed out: "What about the zoo? I saw one at the zoo." I ended up just sitting next to her and singing the song I used to sing when I rocked her to sleep as a baby Knick Knack Paddy Whack Give a Dog a Bone. She finally dozed off clutching my hand and her bear.
I definitely prefer her daytime fears: "I don't want to do a spelling test. I wish we could have a spice test, instead." Clearly, years of eating curry noodles have given her incredible confidence.
Do you still remember the things you feared as a child?

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