A Visit From the Penny Fairy

Last night as Kevin and I were trying to settle the kids down for the night, Kaden kept talking about the "Penny Fairy". For all of you who know Kaden, you know how much he loves to talk. I don't mean to, but sometimes when I am preoccupied, I think I tune him out. I was distracted with bedtime preparations and this and that, but finally stopped what I was doing and gave him my full attention and asked him to tell me about The Penny Fairy.

"The Penny Fairy," Kaden said, "comes while you are sleeping and leaves pennies under your pillow in exchange for something else."

"Interesting," I answered. "What does she like to find?"

"Oh, anything really," replied Kaden. "Here, take this shark tooth fossil and put it in this container and put it under your pillow. You will find a surprise in the morning."

He handed me a fossilized shark tooth inside a plastic bug container and was most insistent that I agree to the terms of putting it under my pillow. I finally agreed and proceeded to put the kids to bed. About 30 mins. later, Kaden came up the top of the stairs and asked me when I was going to bed. I was busy cleaning up from dinner and the day's activities and promptly insisted that he return to his room and go to sleep. This was around 7:30 p.m. Yes, I know this seems early, but our kids have an early internal clock. They go to bed early and wake up early.

Around 8 p.m. Kevin and I were getting ready for our P90X home workout routine, when Kaden again came to the top of the stairs and asked me when I was going to bed. This time I understood. He was "The Penny Fairy" and would not go to sleep until he left his little goodies for us to enjoy. I answered, "I'm going to bed in just a few minutes honey. I want you to go to sleep too."

I took Kevin by the hand and led him to our bedroom while explaining about The Penny Fairy and why we had to jump into bed right now and pretend to sleep (dressed in our work out clothes and all). I was actually kind of afraid that I really would fall asleep. I can't remember the last time I was in bed by 8 p.m. It was about two mins. later that we heard the pitter patter of little feet bounding down the stairs and making their way into our room.

Kaden came to my side of the bed first and stuck his little hand under my pillow. No luck, the box was under Kevin's pillow. He went around to Kevin and found what he was looking for. He grabbed the jar and haphazardly threw two pennies at Kevin which landed on his chest. Kevin and I both were trying desperately to hold back our laughter. My whole body was shaking because I was laughing so hard. Kevin was much more composed than I, and I started snoring loudly to cover up my muffled giggles.

"Is he gone?" whispered Kevin. In reply, Kaden ran back into our room and chucked the empty jar into our bed. Not very sly for a Penny Fairy, but simply adorable! We waited several minutes in silence before we both burst out in laughter. What a cute boy! He was finally able to calm down and go to sleep once his penny delivering mission was completed.

This morning Kaden greeted me with a great big smile and asked, "Mom, did The Penny Fairy leave you any pennies last night?"

"Yes, she did," I replied, "it was awesome!"



Penny Definition -
penny (pen′ē)
noun pl. -·nies

1. in the United Kingdom and certain other countries,
a. a monetary unit equal to of a pound
b. before 1971, a monetary unit equal to of a shilling: abbrev. d
c. a coin worth one penny
2. ☆ a U.S. or Canadian cent
3. any of several other low-value coins, as a denarius
4. a sum of money: now chiefly in the following phrases
http://www.yourdictionary.com/penny


Idioms: penny
Idioms beginning with penny:
a penny for your thoughts,
a penny saved is a penny earned,
a penny wise and pound foolish