Wiggle Room

My little girl was complaining about a sore tooth this week.  The mommy wheels in my head started churning trying to figure out if we had a dental emergency on our hands, or a passing phase.  Do I need to make a dentist appointment tomorrow?  Or can it wait until the appointment we already have on the books in July?  Turns out the tooth was sore and LOOSE!  We are about to embark on a new chapter in life at our house....the Tooth Fairy/Jack-o-Lantern smile chapter. 

As we ate dinner the other night she paused between each bite to check the tooth to make sure it hadn't fallen out.  She was curious and full of questions.  "Will it fall out on the floor?  How does it fall out?  Is it going to hurt?  What if I swallow it?  What does the Tooth Fairy do with all the teeth she collects?"

Hmmm.  Good question.  


As I leaned in close to inspect her mouth and admire the loose tooth, it struck me how teeny tiny her little teeth looked inside her mouth.  Truly, they were teeth meant for a baby. 

And clearly she is a baby no longer.  Sigh. 

She sat in her bed waaaayyy past bedtime wiggling that little tooth, totally fascinated with the mystery of this whole process of dropping baby teeth and growing new adult teeth. She was so excited to go to school the next day to show her teachers and friends this new attraction inside her mouth. 

Lucky for us, we had a garage sale last weekend so we're all stocked up on dollar bills and ready for Tooth Fairy duty. We're prepared with the fancy Tooth pillow that has a tiny little pocket for discarded baby teeth.  We've read our Fancy Nancy and the Too-Loose Tooth book about 500 times, so we are all 110% clear on the process of teeth falling out, and the fact that it's perfectly natural and we shouldn't freak out if there is a little gore (that's fancy for blood) during the process. 

Now if someone could just explain to me what the heck the Tooth Fairy does with millions of teeth, we'd be all set. 

Bottom right center baby tooth preparing an exit strategy.