Death of the Toothfairy

This is a post from my old blog. No, no... It's certainly not that I couldn't think of anything NEW to post about today. It's just that, in getting to know me, you have to understand my family dynamic a little: Oh, if you're wondering why I have an "old blog," it's because I am a procrastinator AND a perfectionist and after spending weeks at a time not writing in the old one, I decided it was time for a new one and that I shant screw this one up! So far, so good - a post every Monday through Friday. Now, on with the story:

My cousin called the other day to tell me that her sons had been up to no good. Not unusual for them, but this episode really takes the cake:
She has 2 boys, 5 and 3 years old. The older one had discovered he had a loose tooth and went to ask his mom how much money he would get from the tooth fairy for it. She told him he would probably get a dollar and apparently, he thought that was right up town. So, he and his little brother went to work on it right away. They tied string around his tooth and he gave said string to his little brother and told him to yank out the tooth. Little brother did yank and it must have been a good one because....tah dah.... they managed to yank out the wrong tooth. It was the tooth NEXT to the loose tooth. My cousin has been trying to figure out how to discourage the boys from this kind of behaviour without telling them the tooth fairy does not really exist.
My mom wasn't so thoughtful (not that I blame her considering the circumstances)...

You see, when I was a child, my dad worked out of town a lot and I would sleep in mom's bedroom with her. Basically we were both huge fraidy cats and both afraid to sleep alone. So, one night after I lost a tooth, I placed it carefully under my pillow in my mom's bed and went to sleep. The next morning when I awoke I remembered that I should have some money under the pillow and went fishing for it. Mom was still asleep when I started screaming, TWENTY-SIX DOLLARS!!! TWENTY-SIX DOLLARS!!! THE TOOTH FAIRY LEFT ME TWENTY-SIX DOLLARS!" Mom woke up in midst of the hysterical screaming, blinked a few times, got a horrified look of comprehension on her face and said, "Give that back, it was supposed to be three dollars." She had mistakenly given me a twenty, a five and a one instead of three ones. Thus ended the little pink wing-ed one's illustrious career in my home...

So, that brings up a question. How did you find out there was no such thing as the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny or any other childhood characters? Were you traumatized, surprised or expecting it? Do tell!