Finally, a Visit from the Tooth Fairy

I have never known a kid more reluctant to get rid of his baby teeth than Bryce. You'd think that having the dentist pull two last spring would have made Bryce more eager to get rid of those wiggly teeth himself, but no.

For the last couple of months, Bryce has been growing two new front teeth right behind his old ones, and no amount of coaxing, pleading or bribing seemed to make him want to pull the babies out to make room for the new ones. Finally, two weeks ago, under threat of being taken to the dentist for another extraction, Bryce agreed to let Mark have a go at pulling the teeth. But alas, all Mark got for his efforts was a lot of crying, blood, and a vow from Bryce to "never let Daddy touch my teeth again." And of course, all this drama only made Mark more determined to see the teeth go.

On Saturday, when I got home from my trip to Orlando, Bryce had a surprise for me. He had finally pulled out one of his two loose teeth! (I'm not sure I want to know what Mark did to bring this about.) We were all very happy for him, but if Bryce thought the loss of one tooth would get Daddy off his back, he was wrong. Now missing it's companion, the remaining front tooth hung precariously in the middle of Bryce's smile, and Sunday after dinner, Mark announced that Bryce would not be able to do anything else until that tooth was out.

Naturally, this caused Bryce to totally freak out and, after all the tears I could stand, I suggested that we say a prayer together for help to pull out the tooth. After the prayer, Bryce calmed down and I remembered that we had some Orajel around the house somewhere. After numbing his gums with ice and Orajel, a couple of twists was all it took to deliver the tooth into Bryce's hand. Our own mini-miracle.

So last night we had another visit from the Tooth Fairy, and hopefully all will be well around here for a while. At least until Mark notices that Bryce already has another tooth growing in behind his last bottom incisor.