tonsil fairy

When Luke got his tonsils out last year, he had a tough couple weeks.  At least one time each night he would wake up crying, and because of the pain, the crying would lead to hysterics.  The more he screamed, the worse it hurt and that made him scream louder.  

It was an vicious cycle that needed to be stopped.  No one was getting a good night’s sleep.

I was complaining about all of this to my physical therapist.  Funny how close you become to someone who has her hands on you every week.  She’s never met any of my family, but she has heard all of my best stories.

She said that I should have the tonsil fairy come and visit.  Genius!  I had concocted a fingernail fairy for Zach - I don’t know why I didn’t think of this myself.  

For the next hour while she worked on my body,  we worked on a tonsil fairy story to help Luke get back to his normal sleep routine.

So with a secret stash of peanut butter cups, I told Luke that I had had a visit from the tonsil fairy.  I explained how upset she was.  She had been trying to give him a treat for getting his tonsils out, but his crying was scaring her away.  

I told him that if he slept through the night, he would probably find a treat under his pillow.

As a side note, I’m all about bribery - especially if it helps you get a good night sleep.  I call bullshit if you say you never use it.

When I tucked Luke in that night, he was very excited to have the tonsil fairy visit.  He was determined to sleep through the night and not scare the fairy.

The first night he did wake up, but there wasn’t the usual screaming.  I got him a drink, tucked him in, and he slept soundly the rest of the night.  

That morning both Luke and Zach (I couldn’t leave out the older brother, he had put up with the nightly screams too) had treats under their pillows.  

We continued this for several more nights, and he finally got back to his old sleeping routine.  

My P.T. had been a nanny and had used all kinds of fairies to make her life a little bit easier. 

Binky fairy, diaper fairy, haircut fairy:  any kind of fairy to help with new experiences.

I highly recommend fairies - their magic has worked wonders on our family.

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