Michael does not like to be told things that are not true.
My mom says that my grandmother is the same way: apparently she even hates fiction. Michael is not nearly that extreme; in fact, he loves fiction stories and movies. But he does NOT want to discover that he was wrong about something he previously believed because he was told it was true.
He often asks if TV shows are "real", meaning whether the people onscreen are actors. This is usually easy to explain but no more reassuring: the international news can be hideous at times. However, he seems to find some comfort in knowing what's true.
He lost his two front teeth the other day.
He is basically on to me about the tooth fairy: in fact, he thinks it's creepy that I steal his teeth. What do I DO with them? Why would I want them?
I have not confessed, but he knows the truth.
He did not mention the tooth fairy to me, but made it clear that he still expected remuneration for the teeth. By bedtime, he was willing to play along for the sake of capitalism. He left them on the table next to my bed, with a note under the pillow: Dear Tooth Fairy, my tooth is on the tabel table. <------
He has four shiny new twonies in his "muny bank".
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Tell me lies: tell me sweet little lies
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11 comments:
So...the moral of the story is, if I start getting broke to send my teeth to you for extra cash??
Right on, coconut diaries! But, Megan, where do you get your funding? I mean, where's the profit for you?
Oh, and can I get mine in American dollars?
Nobody likes being told things that are not true! I'm with Michael.
Just the same, I want some poetry in my world. Does the tooth fairy qualify?
Grampy
I think the tooth fairy would have been acceptable to him if it hadn't been presented as a factual story. To be honest, I'm not sure if I am partly to blame: I may have been the one who originally told him about the tooth fairy. I certainly participated in the myth-making, though. I'm the one who put the money under his pillow the first time.
He loves stories, so if there was an interesting story to go along with the tooth fairy, I'm sure he would have been game.
Miss Lyndsy: This is exactly what makes Michael suspicious about the entire transaction. Why do I want his teeth? Why am I willing to pay for them? What happens to them? Clearly, there is something sinister going on.
This is Canada. I receive government grants to carry on this part of my cherished cultural heritage.
Megan, I am willing to testify that this ritual is not a part of your cultural heritage. Your parents did not tell you the tooth fairy gave you money, or that Santa Claus gave you presents.
We _did_ read you the story of Adam and Eve. And having heard that story, you argued with the first grade teacher about Evolution. You said, "The Bible said that God created man; it didn't say that God created ape!" The teacher took me aside, and asked me how I wanted her to respond to you. I said, "Don't worry about Megan; she'll work it out."
Michael comes by it naturally!
Dad
I just deleted a comment from a few minutes ago because I remembered more about that particular incident.
I remember saying that. I actually said it to you, not to the teacher: what I apparently said to the teacher all those many years ago was that I didn't believe that dinosaurs had existed because they weren't in the Bible.
Now, I don't remember saying that to the teacher: I guess I was six and didn't think it was worth remembering. You brought it up after talking to her. You said something like "Some people believe that people come from apes", which is when I said that I didn't think that was right. I don't remember where the conversation went after that, but I was really too young to understand any of the details. It would have gone over my head even if you'd tried to explain descent with modification. :)
It is many years later, but I still am not sure why I thought that. It must have been in one of the books I had -- some of those were pretty weird. I honestly don't remember you saying anything of the sort to me.
The other possibility that seems reasonable is that one of the little old ladies at church said something like that.
Thanks for the story Megan.
I too did not believe in the tooth fairy at a young age but I did believe in capitalism. Although at the time I didn't know what capitalism was, I just liked the money.
:)
I'd like to read a story about the "wierd books". You kids had lots and lots of books, as I remember, but most of them were standard issue. Were the "wierd books" published by the Amish? We had some of them in the house (still do).
Dad
I don't remember where they were all from. I only have flashes of memories, and will occasionally stumble across something on the Internet that looks creepy and yet familiar.
I had one book that was definitely Amish and definitely anti-evolution. I don't remember its exact arguments, but they included the fact that Piltdown Man was a hoax. I wish I could remember more, but it had a story about a person who was brave enough to challenge her science teacher during a class about evolution, and later discovered that she was right all along: Piltdown Man was a hoax. Something about how nothing could be that old, and evolution wasn't real anyway.
I'm not saying that you bought these for me because you wanted me to believe these things. I could have gotten these books anywhere. I doubt you even knew what was in them.
I don't remember reading anything from the Amish on Evolution, but I'm not surprised to learn that their books contradict it.
For a while I read a great of deal of their literature, and subscribed to some of their magazines. I even corresponded with one of their missionaries (yes, the Amish do have missionaries). They have developed into something very beautiful, and it attracted me. It still does.
Dad
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