All I want for Christmas is...

After a month of her tooth teasing her, Melissa finally lost her first top tooth.  Really. We endured a whole month of wiggly tooth updates.  It popped itself loose at the school's fun run on a Saturday and neither of us had a bag or pockets, so I held her precious tooth for her til we got home.

That night Melissa wrote a note to the tooth fairy. 

One week later she lost the other tooth.  And then she really lost it.  "I can't find it anywhere!  The tooth fairy won't come!" It took some persuasion and plenty of tears, but Matthew eventually convinced her that the tooth fairy would still come.  "Melissa, once I couldn't find my tooth and I wrote a note and the tooth fairy still came!"  Wink, wink.

She composed this note:

Matthew reminded me 4 or 5 times to do my tooth fairy duties and even offered to play the role with his own money.  "I promise, I'll take care of it son."  He was afraid I'd forget since there wasn't a tooth under the pillow.  Matthew can tease Melissa mercilessly at times, and be very annoying to his little sister, but his heart is in the right place. 

The next day she was very pleased to find loot under her pillow.  Later on she found her tooth on the floor and thought the only right thing to do was return it to the tooth fairy, since she'd already paid for it.  She wrote another note and placed it with the tooth under her pillow. 

 

4 teeth down, 16 to go!

Tooth Fairy- FAIL

Melissa was bouncing on her toes when I met her at the corner after school.  "Guess what?"  She didn't pause to give me a chance to guess.  "My tooth is loose!  See!"  Sure enough, it was a little wiggly.  Melissa has been just dying to lose her first tooth.  Most of her friends have already lost teeth and occasionally Matthew mentions that he was 5 years old when he lost his first tooth.  At her last dental appointment, she insisted that the dentist tell her when she was going to lose her first tooth.  Looking at her x-ray, he told her that she would lose a "whole bunch" very soon.

She wiggled that tooth a little after school and then played with her pals across the street.  At dinner she took a bite of mango and beamed, "My tooth came out!"  We all congratulated her on her lost tooth.  She got ready for bed early so the tooth fairy could come.

But the tooth fairy was tired, absentminded, and 9 months pregnant...  

This morning she came downstairs a very disappointed little girl.  I had to make something up on the fly.  "Perhaps the tooth fairy had a lot of houses last night.  You know,  I bet she'll come while you're at school!"  Matthew, bless his heart, seconded the story, "Yeah, the tooth fairy once had a busy night and didn't come till I got back from school."  At 8 years old, he's in the know, but he didn't want to disappoint his sister.  

Here's hoping that she buys it and comes home a happy little miss.  

UPDATE: The tardy tooth fairy made it by the time school was out.  Melissa was very pleased to find some shiny loot under her pillow and all was well with the universe.  

A Really Rotten Tooth Fairy

Yesterday Matthew lost another tooth while at school; his fifth or sixth now? I've lost count. He proudly showed it to me in the "tooth" box that he got from the nurse's office. That night he put it under his pillow. . . and that is the last I thought of it until this evening I heard the word tooth in passing while at the grocery store. Tooth? Tooth! Oh crude! I'd forgotten to swap out his tooth for some change! Oops. Each night I check the kids before I go to bed, so I can't believe that I forgot. I asked Jonathan if Matthew had mentioned anything to him this morning before school. "No, he didn't say anything to me." After dinner, Jonathan slipped upstairs while Matthew was using the bathroom and made the exchange.

Here's hoping that Matthew doesn't notice either.

[Update: Matthew came up with his own explanation, "The tooth fairy is tricky! When woke up this morning the tooth box was still there, but when I went to bed I heard coins under my pillow. The tooth fairy must have come while I was at school."]