abracadabra

No matter how fiercely you believe in it, a dream is a dream. When the morning alarm rings, you have to wake out if it and start your day.

Is that how a kid feels when she wakes up to the fact that fairies exist only between the covers of books and Santa cannot be real?

I saw it happening with Elena.

How can Santa keep a track on how good each kid in the world was? How could he keep updated on all the changing addresses and reach every home in one night (that too riding on reindeers). How can he enter ours without the proverbial chimney? In fact Santa sounded decidedly witchy---quite like Loverna. OK-it had to be Mom.

Yet, she announced, she would continue to believe in the magic-because she wanted her gift.

She continued to believe in the Tooth fairy too.

It was only when the distracted Tooth fairy forgot to exchange her tooth for a coin one night that she began to get suspicious. We blamed the traffic and the rains (as we do for so many things) and she agreed to give the fairy another chance. The part-time fairy added yet another reminder on her phone and actually followed through. Yet the seeds of doubt grew roots-the fairy acted so much like Mom.

I knew she was convinced when she came home from school and said: You know Mamma, Tara broke her tooth on Monday and it was Friday by the time the Tooth fairy came and left her a coin.

Oh great! Another Mom like me. And I know why she was telling me this.

Anyway, she had to know one day.

Aurora broke her first tooth today!

I quickly added a reminder and started hunting for change (if not my wand).

Yeah, she’ll soon grow out of it, but I want her to believe in the magic for some more time.