The Tooth Fairy

The tooth fairy assigned to our house is totally incompetent! Oh, we used to have a good one years ago when my older children were wandering around toothless, but there must have been some lay-offs in the poor economy so that the fairies could still afford the rising cost of teeth. The current tooth fairy seems to be fairly over-worked and more than a little scatterbrained.

So here’s the deal. My son lost a tooth Thursday. He put it in the designated tooth fairy spot (you can’t put things under his pillow because he “nests” under and beside his bed with a huge pile of blankets and pillows). Yep, you guessed it—it was still there in the morning.

The accepted excuse for this occurrence is that the child must have pulled out the tooth early and the Tooth Fairy didn’t have them on the schedule for that night. Yes, this has happened several times before. I mentioned her incompetence, didn’t I? The procedure is repeated for a second night and usually the Tooth Fairy gets her act together and takes care of things. To help the process along, I suggested the child draw a couple of pictures for his door and window asking her to please stop by. He found this a very embarrassing solution. Huh. It made perfect sense to me. Well, without a posted reminder this time the old gal didn’t remember she had something to do until last night—Saturday.

She looked around. No tooth. She dug around. No tooth. She shifted all of the covers and miscellaneous implements of sleep around the boy. No tooth. It was very frustrating, but I guess this particular child had given up any trust and faith he had left for the Tooth Fairy because the little bugger simply wasn’t there.

She left him a note and all, paying him but insisting he leave his tooth for her to pick up the next time she had to fly through his neighborhood. Yes, she covered her tracks this time.

The child quietly brought me the note this morning. I asked him where the tooth was if he hadn’t left if for the Tooth Fairy.

“I dunno.”

Great. Now what? Are there Tooth Fairy bandits out there that go sneaking off with the porcelain treasures before the real Tooth Fairy can even, ahem, remember to pick it up?

The Art of Procrastination

Why is it that we procrastinate? I seem to have perfected nothing else in my life but the ability to put off for tomorrow, or the next day, those things which should be accomplished today.

Yes, even as I sit here typing this I am procrastinating a deadline.

Why is that? Writing is the thing that I love most in the world. Generally, it doesn’t even matter what the assignment is, I just love the fact that I can sit down at my computer and create something with my words that someone else needs. I do have a selfish streak, I know. There are days when I just can’t write another technical word. I miss the creative side of me that doesn’t pay when I’m bogged down with “real” writing assignments. Still, even when my time is my own, and I can write those projects that fuel my soul, I have a grand tendency to procrastinate.

I think part of it has to do with the negative influences we let into our lives. I put off the task because I’m afraid my best won’t be good enough in some manner. Whether it be money, creativity, what my editor or employer thinks of me, or how much house work I’ve neglected this week, a million little negative thoughts can all jumble together into one big stumbling block of procrastination.

I’ll do it just as soon as I check my email; that assignment I’ve been waiting on may have come through.
I’ll do it just as soon as I give the dog a bath, I can smell her from here.
I’ll start again just as soon as I finish jotting down the thought I had for another project.
I can’t do it now; the kids will be home in 10 minutes.
I’m getting a headache; I can’t look at this screen for another minute.
I just remembered I haven’t balanced the checkbook, scrubbed the grout in the bathroom, or had that oral surgery, for months now. I’d better take care of it while I’m still thinking of it.
There’s a piece of pie in the refrigerator that is calling my name, I simply can’t concentrate until it’s gone.

The list of excuses could go on and on, but I’d really like to get to the bottom of this procrastination problem. It seems the more I put something off, the less energy I have for it. I put it off again and the nasty cycle begins all over again until I dread the very idea of the thing but I have to do it or else. So, dear reader, what is your favorite procrastination tool and your theory about why we procrastinate?