Innocence Lost...Maybe Not

Difficulties with Mojo these past two months (since school started - and it's no coincidence) have had me believing that the child was passing out of her innocence into hardened adulthood at the tender age of 7.

Two things stand out:

1) Mojo has been losing her teeth like they're radioactive and sure enough, some jack-hole at school told her that there was no such thing as the Tooth Fairy. It's not the first time that she's approached her parents looking for reassurance that such things exist, it's just the first time that she wasn't taking any bull sh*t for an answer.

When her mother tried the old, "Well, do you think there's such a thing as the Tooth Fairy?" she flat out told her to stop beating around the bush and answer the question. Backed into a corner the Harpy told the kid the truth.

Mojo demanded to know why we had all lied to her (that is, every adult, everywhere), and why it was okay for grown-ups to lie to children, but kids get in trouble when they lie -- all good questions, don't you think?

I suggested to her dad that when she came to him looking for an explanation that he take the high road, something like: "Well, it can be scary for a kid when their teeth start to fall out, so grown-ups made up the tooth fairy to make losing your baby teeth something fun to look forward to, so kids wouldn't be scared to lose their teeth. Yes, it's a lie, and people shouldn't lie, but it's meant to make you feel better, not worse."

My current readings of Today's Parent has lead me to believe that these kinds of abstract ideas are the sort which kids of Mojo's age are starting to appreciate - empathy can be a difficult concept, even for adults to grasp sometimes, hopefully we haven't screwed it up too much for her.

2) A couple of weeks ago, Mojo asked her dad what it means when somebody puts their middle finger up at you - why it is bad. He told her it was like sign language for a swear word. It satisfied her curiosity, but it pissed me off. Some little f*cker at school is doing it to other kids thinking he's so cool because he knows something that he's not supposed to know and doing something he's not supposed to do. Why do some assh*les have to ruin things for other kids? Who knows how long Mojo could have gone without knowing that rude gesture? Her father and I take great pains not to make that very gesture when she's with us in the car (though it doesn't stop others from directing it at us!).

I guess my point is that I was starting to worry that maybe 7 was the end of innocence for our little Moj. But then last night, she was all dressed up in her ghost costume, chomping at the bit to get out and do some trick-or-treating and I realized that there are just grades of innocence. She was, almost literally, like a kid in a candy store. It's so funny how some kids, even though they do it every year, just cannot believe their luck at the idea of Halloween.

The highlight of Halloween for me to date was Mojo's exclamation of joy after the very first house that "That guy just gave me candy!" As though that wasn't the reason why she knocked on his door in the first place! Granted, it's been a couple of years since that first house, but she's still just as excited as ever. She was even excited to hand candy out at our door last night. Warms the cockles you know...

But I'll tell you right here and now, if that Tooth Fairy killing bastard ever shows up at my door looking for candy, I'm gonna give him the finger for sure!