Tuesday, September 20, 2011

all kinds of ruckus...


"Quick!" I hissed under my breath in a hoarse whisper, grabbing his arm frantically as he came out of the bathroom from his morning shower. Steam billowing behind him, a towel still thrown around his neck.

"GO PUT SOMETHING IN THE TOOTH FAIRY CUP!!!!!!....NOW!!!!!"

You see, I had forgotten to swap the tiny little tooth sitting in the pink plastic cup on the kitchen counter last night for a coin of some sort, and my daughter had almost caught me in my folly.

She had stumbled downstairs before the sun was even up, although I was already in the kitchen bustling around. She tiptoed up behind me and startled me as she tugged on my sweater.

"MOM! LETH  THEE WHAT THE TOOF THAIRY LETHT ME!"

oh crap.

"OH right!!!!! The Tooth Fairy! Well....um....why don't we run upstairs and get dressed first so that I can take a nice picture of you with whatever she left in your cup!"

I turn her around and herd her and her confusion straight up to her bedroom, catching Kevin in the hallway. His eyes widen as they meet mine and seconds later I can hear him in the pantry jingling coins out of the stray cash jar.

"wow, I think to myself... the tooth fairy sure sounds like she's  paying well...."

In fact the tooth fairy left a whole five dollars in that pink plastic cup and it was well deserved because the morning before all of this it had taken a whole lot of convincing to get Ava Grace to concede to her Daddy wiggling that little itty bitty tooth out of it's rightful place and into that pink plastic cup to start with.

We told her the tooth fairy pays a premium for first teeth because she knows how scary they can be.

The tooth had been wiggling for days and had gotten to the point where it was causing all kinds of discomfort and angst for poor Ava. She made sure I told her teacher each morning of school that today might be the day that the tooth would fall out AT SCHOOL (horrible thought) and it was very important that Teacher Alice and Teacher Lois be prepared and know which of the special pockets on her new backpack would be used to store the tooth in case of an emergency.

For almost two weeks I had been trying to reassure her at bedtime that she was not likely to swallow it or choke on it in her sleep...but in all honesty once she said it, the thought was stuck there in my mind too....

Finally the day came when brushing her teeth left her bleeding a tiny amount and sobbing a very UN-tiny amount. Sobbing so much that in my frazzled state one night I told her in frustration that if she kept up this sobbing, the tooth fairy wouldn't even want the tooth because she had made all kinds of ruckus over nothing.

Of course an hour later I felt terrible and crawled into bed next to her still whimpering in the dark and we lay there after I apologized profusely, talking about the finer points of tooth fairy theology; what she looks like, where she lives, and what do you suppose she actually does with all the teeth anyway?
Ava Grace actually asked some questions that almost stumped me (which happens a lot by the way) such as "How does she even know that my tooth has fallen out, how does she know to come and get it?"

"Well," I faltered "Maybe it's like how Santa just knows what you want for Christmas"

"No mom" she says like she's explaining to it to her younger brother,
"Santa knows because I write to him and tell him...I don't write to the tooth fairy.... she just knows."

"Hmmm.....you're right Ave." I shrugged.

"I think maybe it's because she's actually an angel more than she is a fairy and God tells her to go and get my teeth."

"Sure. that sounds good to me." I smiled in the dark and hugged her closer.


The next morning I hugged her nice and close on my lap while Daddy reached into her little mouth a cold wet cloth and without even a whole tug that little tooth was in the cloth and out of her gums. The little tooth that I remember being the first to erupt through those same gums almost five years ago. The same little tooth that suddenly made her baby smile the cutest thing that I just couldn't get enough of. The same little tooth that she hardly fussed over when it first cut through, the same little tooth that ushered her into a world of chew toys and crackers just yesterday, has ushered her into a new world of window-gapped school photos and money left behind under pillows or pink plastic cups.

I have to say that little tooth now missing has changed her smile all over again in it's absence and I still have to say it's the cutest thing... and I just can't get enough.

2 comments:

  1. I have completely forgotten twice!!! The girls always remind me, "Mom--don't let the Mommy Tooth Fairy forget tonight..." Last week, I woke up at 4:30am, certain it was the gracious Lord God that roused me from my peaceful slumber to make certain that my children wouldn't fall prey to my forgetfulness yet again. I scrawled out a quick love note to accompany the prize, tip toed upstairs and slid it under the pillow. As I made my way back to bed, I thanked God for filling in where I forget.
    Blessings to you!
    Tiffany

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ahhh! Awesome and sweet and cute and funny. $5! Lala got 25 cents for her first tooth earlier this year. Ava Grace is so little to lose her first. How old is she again?

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