The First Actual "Lost Tooth"

Will has caught up to and surpassed Alex in the realm of lost teeth. Just a few weeks ago, on February 3rd, Will was eating an apple at school and jostled one of his bottom teeth loose. When he showed it to us that Friday evening, it was quite loose. It bothered him a little, so we told him to leave it alone until morning and get some sleep.

Loose Tooth

The next morning, we were having a spirited debate about how long it takes to lose a tooth. We were in the process of making Hillary ask Siri when Will announced that his tooth had come out! So, it took less than 24 hours from loose to out.Lost Tooth

We asked Will if he wanted to keep the tooth or trade it to the Tooth Fairy for money. Unlike Alex, who is still holding on to his tooth that he had extracted last December, Will is all about the exchange for cold-hard-cash. Unfortunately, the exchange was a bit difficult. Will had just been to a sleepover the weekend before and still had his sleeping bag out and up in his bed. I had not actually witnessed him putting the envelope under his pillow. I think he put it under his head, tucked into the head part of the sleeping bag. Plus, he sleeps on the top bunk of the kids' bed. So after he fell asleep, I'm in there standing on Alex's slightly creaky bed, reaching up to Will's bed, looking everywhere among the pillows and animals and blankets and sleeping bags for the green envelope. I did not find it. Fortunately Dan was available to save the day! He boldly went up there, physically moved Will around, found the envelope and completed the exchange. Will was very excited to find the $2 bill in his envelope the next morning. However, during the time where the boys get their 'job commissions' for the week, he traded it and three other dollars for a five dollar bill. He's just too young to understand that a $2 bill is unique.

All we heard about for the next two weeks was how awesome it was that he could trade teeth for money. He was very excited last Friday when he realized that another tooth was loose.

This one was a little slower to come out. Tonight, I examined the tooth, finding it not very well connected, but not loose enough that I could get a good grip and pull it by hand. So, I asked Will if I could tie a string to it. He agreed. I tied some floss to the tooth and left it, hoping that he would tug on it and pull it out.

String Attached to Tooth

He did pull a little on the string, just enough to disconnect the root and cause a little blood to get on the string. I told him not to freak out, but there was a little blood on the string. He kind of freaked out just a little. He strongly suggested that I take the string out. Given that I had tied a slip knot on the tooth, it really wasn't coming out any other way, so I pulled to remove both string and tooth very easily. This caused Will to freak out just a little more so we placated him with a popsicle. All is well and the tooth is safely in an envelope. I'll send Dan up for the exchange from the beginning tonight.

Bottom tooth Gap

I have realized a few things through this experience.

1. Having two parents comes in handy for many things, this included.
2. If your child hasn't lost any teeth yet, I recommend the construction of a "tooth pillow" that will making the tooth easier to find for the Tooth Fairy.
3. When you get special money for the Tooth Fairy to deliver, remember to get more than one. It seems the tooth losing process really takes off after the first one, especially if your child is getting super close to age six like Will. I had Dan get three $2 bills back on that first Friday when tooth number one was loose. One for the first tooth, one for a second future tooth, and one if Alex changed his mind about his tooth and the Tooth Fairy monetary exchange.
4. The reason my parents wanted to pull my teeth out using strings and doorknobs and other crazy methods...

It stops the whining.