Tooth Fairy

Addie spent the night with me last night (yes, I’m in MO). At school yesterday, she lost a tooth . . with a little help from her friend. I said “PLEASE tell me your friend didn’t put her finger in your mouth!” Addie said she didn’t so I didn’t ask any questions. It’s bad enough to think about Addie putting her own hand in her own mouth these days.

That meant I had tooth fairy duties last night.

She went to bed and couldn’t decide if she was going to put the tooth, in its cute little tooth container the school nurse gave her, on the bedside table or under her pillow.

I was afraid I’d go to sleep waiting for her to go to sleep and I wouldn’t wake up during the night but I did. I woke up about 2:30, got up and rummaged around under her pillow, couldn’t find the little tooth container and she was starting to stir so I stopped and went back to bed. Woke up again about 4 and her head was completely off the pillow so I moved the pillow, felt around under it, stuck my hands up under the pillowcase — no tooth. Went and got the flashlight and on my hands and knees, I’m searching under the bed. No tooth. Then it was time to get up. How the heck am I going to get up off the floor? I started giggling thinking about her waking up in the morning and me being on the floor by her bed. How would I explain that? I managed to get myself up, went back to bed but then remembered she had talked about putting the tooth on the nightstand, which is on the other side of her bed. So, back in there with the flashlight. No tooth on the nightstand. No tooth in the drawer of the nightstand.

At that point, I said “heck with finding the tooth” and stuck the money under her pillow.

She got up this morning and told me “This is the second time the tooth fairy let me keep my tooth!” I didn’t want to say “Where the heck was that darned tooth?” I said “Maybe the tooth fairy thought you were sleeping so good he didn’t want to wake you up by reaching under your pillow!” She said “Oh, I put the tooth under my dollie’s pillow.” What? She had a bunk bed for her dolls and when she put her dolls to bed, she put the tooth under the doll’s pillow.

I told her she was lucky the tooth fairy left money because the tooth was supposed to be under HER pillow. And besides, the tooth fairy is tired from being up half the night looking for that tooth!

She calls her permanent teeth . . her “grown up” teeth.