Let me start with the tooth fairy. Not the movie. The actual fairy that shows up with the cash in exchange for those tiny, pearly whites.
When my son was younger, I remember a parent program at his school, one that dealt with issues of class (as in socio-economic standing), amongst other things. The best part of the evening, the part I found the most useful, was a discussion about the tooth fairy. One mother posed the following question. "How do I explain things to my daughter when we give her $1.00 for losing a tooth and another kid tells his friends that he got $100. for the first one and gets $25.00 for the rest?"
Had I been answering, I might have recommended an explanation about people having more money, that they can spend it the way the want. I might have said that even if we had that much money, that's not what we would pay. But, I preferred the answer one of our most beloved teachers gave. "Tell her there is no tooth fairy." Good answer. I'd probably make sure it didn't follow too closely on the heels of the "there is no Santa Claus" talk. But, really, I think it solved the problem nicely.
I'm going to move along to the Maybach. A $360,000. automobile (and for that price, really, it should fly) that P Diddy just gave to his son as a 16th birthday present. Now, apparently, Diddy did give him a check (10 grand to open a bank account), as well, which sixteen-year old Justin Dior Combs promptly donated to Haitian relief. I don't know if the story is 100% true, but I did read it online this morning.
I might have suggested keeping the $10,000., selling the Maybach, and donating that money to Haitian relief. Or even part of that money. Hell, with the ten grand and another, let's say, sixty from the sale of the car, you'd still have enough for some really nice wheels. Then you'd have about $300,000. left. You could still skim a little to open that bank account if that's what dad intended. I'm not blaming Justin. The fact that he took the money and donated it was admirable. I'm just sayin', I don't think a sixteen-year old needs a Maybach, no matter how much money you have. Where do you go from there? I know, something that really does fly.
I understand. Dad wants Justin to have more than just the cake he got when he turned sixteen. Newsflash: there is something in between a cake and a Maybach. We can all tune in to MTV's My Super Sweet 16 when the episode featuring the birthday party airs.
I am, however, faced with a quandary. My son will turn sixteen in 2011. I can't tell him there is no P Diddy.
