Finally!

When he was four, Spencer discovered that one of his bottom front teeth was loose. He was SO excited and wiggled it constantly but it never got any looser. Every time he went to the dentist they would say, "It won't be long now!" But it never would budge any further. Spencer had almost given up hope. But then a couple of months ago, we noticed that his tooth was finally loosening up and we really meant it when we told him "any day now".

Then, finally, a few weeks ago Spencer came in the room looking part sad, part angry, and part scared. I asked him what was wrong and got his standard: "Nothing." Which always means something. So I persisted and he finally told me, "It's a secret and I will only tell you." He took me to the stairwell and shut the door and then pulled down his bottom lip and showed me the space where his little tooth had been. I told him how exciting that was and pointed out how long he's been waiting for the day to come. But then he said: "I don't know where I lost it!" Apparently it just fell out in the course of his playing and it had just suddenly occurred to him that his mouth didn't feel quite right and he realized what had happened. He was so upset that the tooth fairy wouldn't visit him after all that waiting. So I told him the story of how my tooth fell down the drain once and that I wrote a note to the tooth fairy explaining the problem and she still came. He felt better after that but still didn't want to tell anyone. The kids all knew he had a secret and so they were trying to guess what it could be all while Spencer was keeping his mouth tightly clenched. While this was happening, I happened to see a speck on the carpet that didn't look like the usual specks and I quickly bent down to pick it up and discover it was the lost tooth. I pulled Spencer aside and showed him and he was so excited that he let his secret be known. Finally! It wasn't quite the happy ending he had hoped for though when he woke up and realized that the tooth fairy who comes to our house is a cheapskate. I think he was dreaming up things he was going to buy with all his cash. Unfortunately, fifty cents just doesn't buy a whole lot. Sorry Spencer. Like the rest of Michigan, the tooth fairies here have been hit by the recession I guess. He felt a little better when I told him that in my day, I only got one quarter. But he says next time he's going to save up his lost teeth so he can get "some dollars" under the pillow.