Bill Belew has raised 2 bi-cultural kids, now 34 and 30. And he and his wife are now parenting a 3rd, Mia, who is 8.

Tooth Fairy

I have been dying for my first tooth to fall out.

Mommy and daddy said the tooth fairy would probably leave enough money for me to buy my first game on my iPad mini.

Yesterday my first tooth came out.

Next step was to hide it under my pillow for the tooth fairy to find.

But I don’t want to.

“Huh? You don’t want to put your tooth under your pillow tonight?”

“Nope. I want to wait. Gong Gong and Poh Poh are coming. And they want to see my tooth.”

“But what about the money for the iPad mini game?”

“I can wait. It’s called  D laid the giraffe on vacation.”

“Huh? Oh, delayed gratification.”

“What’s that daddy?”

“That’s when you don’t mind waiting for something that you really wanted because when you do finally get it you are even happier.

“Oh, I thought that maybe Gong Gong or Poh Poh needed my tooth because theirs are falling out. And mine is pretty new and tough. A little small. But tough. I will show them my tooth. And if they want to use it, that’s okay. I don’t need money from the tooth fairy that much. And I love my Gong Gong and Poh Poh more than money.”

“With that attitude, Mia, you will learn that delayed gratification will always be better than immediate satisfaction.”

Have you ever waited longer than you have to get something you wanted? Knowing that when you finally got it you would enjoy it even more?

Talk to Bill and others about their experiences raising bi-cultural Japanese-American kids.