A Completely Fabricated Premise

INT. LIVING ROOM - MORNING

Kenzo and Osamu are chowing down on breakfast at the dining table in their pajamas. Both have surreal bed hair. Papa is drying dishes in the kitchen and thinking about his neighborhood association meeting at 10 and sipping coffee.

KENZO

                                                           Hey papa.

ME

                                                           What's up dude?

KENZO

                                                           My tooth came out.

ME

                                                           Congratulations Kenzo! Lemme text the tooth fairy and let her know 

                                                           to swing by tonight.   

                                                                                 (pretends to text)

KENZO

                                                           What does the tooth fairy do with all the teeth she collects?

I was kinda speechless and fumbled around for an answer. I make it a habit to tell the boys when I don't know the answer to something and say let's find out together before looking it up on the internet or wherever. I am trying to be a good model when it comes to being okay with not knowing an answer every single time. It's better to say I don't know or let me check on that than give a wrong made-up answer and really screw things up.

But this was regarding the tooth fairy, which is tricky because Kenzo's inquiry is based on a completely fabricated premise.

I am now the vice-chairperson of our neighborhood association and this morning was the big yearly general meeting to kick off the new fiscal year. I sat up front so I wouldn't get too sleepy, like I used to do in university when I had to take a class to satisfy a requirement. My thermos of coffee was all set. I had a pen and paper to look professional and my freshly sheared head was waxed up.

Luckily the meeting got spicy when the chairman, who's a very nice albeit bullish old guy, opened comments to the floor and a bunch of folks raised their hands and basically aired their grievances. One guy was adamant that he shouldn't have to automatically donate to the Red Feather nonprofit organization in his yearly dues. Another old dude was splitting hairs on the changes to the wording in the neighborhood association bylaws, specifically questioning the need for a chairperson, a vice-chairperson, and an "advisor," the latter of which he bluntly stated was meaningless. 

It was all actually pretty amusing. I have more neighborhood association meetings next weekend and the weekend after, with other duties coming in fairly fast, like ordering flowers for our local planter boxes, which get entered into a city-wide competition that we apparently never win. 

Eri is skeptical that I can do this.

I am totally certain this is gonna be awesome. It's a chance to get to know our neighborhood and neighbors even better and be of use. Weed and grass cutting day is next month and Kenzo and Osamu are definitely coming along to show their solidarity. And be of use. 

Kenzo doesn't like to sleep with a pillow, but he put a pillow by his head tonight just so he could put his tooth under it for the tooth fairy, who he knows will only find the tooth and give him his shiny 100 yen coin if it's under a proper pillow.