First Loose Tooth

A couple of days before we left for Disney World (more on that as soon as I can get through all the pictures!), Liam discovered that he FINALLY had a loose tooth.  We’ve been waiting for one for months!  Zachary lost his first tooth a few months after turning 5, after it had only been loose for about 14 hours.  It was fast, and crazy.  We thought Liam’s first one might not come out that early, due to the fact that he didn’t get teeth as a baby until much later than Zachary.  But I never thought he’d be past his 6^th birthday before one turned up loose.  I was a little worried about the tooth coming out on our trip – just one more thing to worry about, having to deal with the Tooth Fairy on vacation!  But I took some steps to make sure we were prepared – when we checked in at the hotel and they asked if we were celebrating anything, I said that we had a first loose tooth about to come out.  So we had a celebration button all ready for him when the tooth came out.  I also found a small box with Mickey on it that we could put the tooth in (since we hadn’t gotten around to getting him a tooth box yet).  I carried both things with me the whole trip, just in case.  And wouldn’t you know it – that darn tooth didn’t come out!!  Josh tried helping it along a couple of times, but each time he decided it was still in there pretty good.  We got back Sunday afternoon with the button and mickey box still in my purse.  I’m bummed he didn’t get to wear the button, but we can still use the box – maybe that will be his tooth box for this, and future teeth.

So yesterday at school, I’m not sure what prompted it, but before lunch, Liam’s teacher’s assistant, Mrs. Shamblin, took it upon herself to pull the tooth out.  God bless kindergarten teachers.  Loose teeth gross me out, so I hadn’t even been able to look and see just how wiggly it had gotten.  So Mrs. Shamblin pulled it out and then sent him to lunch.  They put his tooth in a tiny plastic treasure box, then taped it shut, and put it in a baggie to bring home.  He was SO excited to show me later on!

Losing the first tooth is a big deal!  Zachary got $5 when he lost his first tooth (and I had also been carrying around a $5 bill all week just in case too – I wasn’t about to find myself in our hotel room at 11pm with nothing but a $20).  Except…we didn’t get to give it to him.  After dinner, the boys wanted to play outside.  Because it was kind of late (and also getting cold), Josh told them they could have 5 minutes.  When it was time to come in, Liam had a massive meltdown, because he felt like he had been short-changed by 1 minute.  ONE MINUTE.  So this led to lots of yelling, refusing to clean up brand new Legos purchased on our trip, lots of uses of “No!”, and just general defiance.  We kept telling him that he needed to turn it around or else we would have to call the Tooth Fairy and tell her not to come.  I guess he decided to call our bluff, because he was a stinker all the way to his bed.  So, we called off the Tooth Fairy.  She did come – but instead of taking his tooth and leaving him money, she left this:

 

 

In case you can’t read it, it says:

From the Desk of The Tooth Fairy

 

My Dearest Liam,

I was so excited to hear that you finally lost your first tooth!  I was ready to come visit you for the first time until I found out how poorly you behaved before bedtime.  That makes me very sad when I can’t visit, but I only leave money for good children who behave and do what their parents ask them to, without yelling at them.

 

I will have to come by on a different night – perhaps you can take the time between now and then to apologize to your parents and write them a letter  saying how sorry you are for being so mean.  Once you write the note, I will know you are ready to leave your tooth for me so I can bring your payment.

 

Much Love,

The Tooth Fairy

 

I actually found the idea online from a mom who wrote a similar note to her daughter whose room was so messy that the Tooth Fairy couldn’t even get in there to leave the money.  That note told the daughter that she needed to clean her room before the Tooth Fairy could come back.  I just adapted it for our situation.

 

This was a really hard decision.  It’s a big deal to get a visit from the Tooth Fairy for the first time, and I hated that we had to take it away.  But we feel strongly that you shouldn’t be rewarded after terrible behavior – there has to be a consequence.  He was pretty upset this morning, which we expected.  We’ll see how long it takes him to write the apology note that the Tooth Fairy requested.