Keeping the Tooth Fairy in Business

Kylee came to my side of the bed early one recent Saturday morning with an urgent report....her tooth was hurting.  Being the morning person that I am, I mumbled something about getting a drink and then seeing if it felt better.  She disappeared for approximately 2 seconds and was back at my bedside again.

"Mom!  My tooth fell OUT!"  She stood next to me.  And then, being Kylee, she followed that with "I tried to carry it in here but I dropped it!".  She has her Daddy's grace.  I love it.

I took a moment and then rolled over and poked Brandon (who would remain asleep in the presence of a brass band).  "Honey, our baby lost her tooth!".  I later realized that maybe those weren't the best words as my husband woke up and tried to understand why in the heck Hadley would have lost a tooth.

As I said those words, I realized that I was in no way, shape, or form prepared for this.  With Connor, the tooth had dangled precariously for days as we eagerly anticipated his first visit from the tooth fairy.   I hadn't thought it through with Kylee.  Our second child is at the stage of life where her baby teeth will fall out.  Whoa.

I crawled out of bed and thankfully, was able to find the tooth right next to our bed.  I invited Kylee to crawl into bed and cuddle with us for awhile, which she did, quite happily.  It was great.

That night, Kylee placed her tooth under her pillow.  The tooth fairy came and went.

Mission accomplished.

Just one week later, Kylee came home from school reporting that her other bottom front tooth was hurting.  I looked at it and it was hanging by a thread.

I will tell you that even though I'm a nurse, there are some things that totally gross me out.  Toenails and teeth fall into that category.  The neighbor girls we walk home from the bus stop with told us in great detail what the best way to pull out a tooth is.  My stomach turned, but I could tell that Kylee's mouth really was hurting, so I took the plunge and asked her if I could pull it out.  It must have really been hurting, because she said yes.  I was sweating at the prospect of yanking on a tooth.  Two twists later (I followed the neighbor girls' instructions), I had the tooth out of Kylee's mouth.  I felt quite triumphant and she was happy.

About two hours after pulling her tooth, Kylee was at work in the bathroom, furiously scrubbing the tooth with her toothbrush.  As I saw her, I thought "it isn't going to be long until she loses that tooth down the drain".  Sure enough, a second later, she yelled "Mom!  My tooth is LOST in my toothbrush!".  I inspected the toothbrush.  No tooth.  I recovered the tooth on the bathroom rug.  Whew.

I asked her why she was scrubbing her tooth.  She replied that the neighbor girl had told her that if she brushed the tooth, the tooth fairy would leave her $20 instead of just $1.  I quickly squashed that dream by suggesting to her that it was better to leave a dirty tooth than to risk washing a clean tooth down the drain in the process of brushing it.

It's always an adventure.

All Kylee wants for Christmas is her two front teeth. :)

And an American Girl doll.