The Tooth Fairy is Going Broke

Five year olds beware--the tooth fairy may soon be broke from all the loose teeth Sage has discovered in her mouth this past month. 

When the dentist told us Sage had a loose tooth it set her in a frenzy.  Her first loose tooth got hours of "mirror time" before it literally popped out of her mouth while Sage was eating a taco. 

 

After tooth #1 (aka The Big Star) made its exit, Sage proudly carried it around in a Ziploc bag, which she managed to lose at least once every five or ten minutes.  This resulted in instant panic, and tearful requests for family prayers on behalf of the tooth’s recovery.  With a firm belief in the power of prayer-over-lost-teeth (since it worked three out of three times in the space of thirty minutes), I had to reign in the spirituality after half an hour and relegate the tooth to its celebrated position under the pillow, and out of Sage’s butterfingers grip.

The Tooth Fairy was happy to make a visit that night, as much to remove the tooth as to leave the anticipated prize.  This tooth dollar nearly burnt a hole in Sage’s little purse before she bought herself a genuine Made-in-China jar of fingernail polish from Walmart.

With three more loose(ish) teeth awaiting, Sage recognized her financial interest in her baby teeth, and she began to request tacos for dinner on a regular basis, in addition to demanding rights to sit in the exact chair in which she lost her first tooth.  For good luck.  On her path to becoming a millionaire.  One dollar at a time. 

Tooth number two was a little more stubborn about getting displaced, and we began to explore the vast array of suggestions YouTube has for removing a tooth.  These include, but are certainly not limited to, extraction by rocket, dog, Harley-Davidson motorcycle, and remote control car.  Once I recognized that the common denominator in these successes was just a swift jerk, I opted for a more subtle choice—tweezers, which worked like a charm.  So well, in fact, that the next day Sage asked me “peel out these two teeth” with my tweezers.  She claimed it was so she could look like her friend from school, but I think it was so the greenbacks in her purse could have a few more friends.  

Sage's birthday and tooth money get acquainted

Following the loss of her second tooth (which, incidentally, took place on a taco night), Sage went to the sink to wash her hands and tooth off, and the poor little bloody tooth slid out of sight down the sink.  When Sage realized it was gone, panic set in.  Thankfully the live-in tooth fairy remembered where she had saved Tooth #1, and in a moment of careful word choosing, Tooth #1 was presented as Tooth #2, and all was well. 

Who would have thought it would be so much work to be a Tooth Fairy?