Friday’s blog post about the end of Santa in our household sparked a family discussion about various childhood legends, and Gina confessed to us that she performed an experiment a couple years ago to confirm her suspicions about the tooth fairy.

I did not know this.

Apparently, Gina had been dubious about the tooth fairy phenomenon for some time. I admit, it was partly my fault, because the tooth fairy was rather lackadaisical about her visits. She sometimes “forgot” to show up. “She’s got a busy schedule,” I used to tell my oldest child, Gabbey. “She’ll get around to it eventually!” (And then I would put a sticky note on my own pillow, reminding me to drop off the money before I went to sleep.)

Gina was not so easily fooled.

Apparently, at some point, she lost a tooth and decided to put it under her pillow without telling me or Bob. Days went by, and the tooth remained where she left it, unredeemed.

Gabbey claims she tried to help us out. “I told Gina the tooth fairy was behind schedule!”

I asked Gabbey why she didn’t just let us know the tooth was there, and she shrugged. “It was an experiment.”

After about a week, Gina finally presented the tooth to me and Bob, telling us it had just fallen out. That very night, the tooth vanished and was replaced by some shiny quarters. Gina’s hypothesis was proved correct.

I guess I’m just lucky Gina didn’t take photos as evidence and present this as her school Science Fair Project.