We are having a bit of a tooth drama in this house at the moment. After weeks of Betty excitedly showing us her wobbly tooth and talking about it non-stop, it finally fell out yesterday. But unfortunately she didn't notice where and when it fell out. Betty was reciting Chopsticks on the piano, to Tom's horror, and he happened to notice the gap in her teeth.
After a moment's reflection, Betty was very cool about the fact that the tooth was lost. 'Don't worry mummy,' she said. 'The tooth fairy will find it.'
I thought that Betty was being a little too complacent and so set off on a frantic search. This included emptying out the bins and the compost and going through it with a fine toothcomb; delicately inspecting all manner of discarded rotting food stuffs, and scrabbling around in the chicken coop looking in amongst the food scraps that had been thrown to them just moments before we realised the tooth was missing.
I checked back through Betty's baby record book (kept in the days when I was energetic and organised), and realised that the missing tooth was in fact the very first tooth to cut through on 1st August 2007 when Betty was eight months old; the tooth that caused much excitment, the tooth that marked the beginning of her teeth-owning days, and the tooth that made my nipples bleed.
The situation had acquired a new urgency. I decided that Betty must have swallowed the tooth while eating her supper, so I asked her if she could do all poos on Dolly's potty. In her excitement she promptly produced one almost straight away. I sat at the top of the stairs and carefully dissected it using a couple of craft lollipop sticks. Tom walked past me at this point, gagged, and told me that I was one heck of a dedicated mother.
This morning I have abandoned plans to go out for the day, so that we are near a potty at all times, and I will continue to inspect Betty's excrement. I have even considered inspecting the chickens' shit - they are such greedy scavengers they could well have eaten it.
Tom, Betty and the tooth fairy may not care, but I will be gutted if I don't find that tooth.
10 comments:
oh god woman, you make me laugh!
This happened almost exactly the same way to us. Girly girl lost a tooth, it had been wobbly all week and with that sudden shock I realised it had gone. I assumed she'd swallowed it, and was preparing self for the Poo Dissection, when, by sheer good luck, I suddenly found it on a bedroom floor. It must have fallen out when she was larking around. Hurrah!
However. Reading this has reminded me of something. After finding the tooth, it was duly popped under pillow for good old Tooth Fairy (whose rates have gone up considerably since I was a child. Am thinking about yanking out my teeth to raise a bit of coin for new shoes). Well, between you and me and all the other mums out there, the tooth ended up being hidden out of view in a swaddle of loo roll. Something I happened upon this week. Thought 'ooh, got to put that somewhere safe', then shoved it in my pocket. Did I put it somewhere safe? Nope. Waiting at home time on Thursday, I found it in my back pocket and swore at self for not stashing it away. Then of course I lost it. Happy to report that I have now found it, and as soon as I finish this comment I AM going to put it in a safe place. Thank you for reminding me about it!
So when that toothy does show up, put it somewhere safe immediately. Considering it's just a slightly yukky looking article, it holds a lot of cherished memories.
Mums. We're a funny old lot, aren't we?!
happy hunting!
xx
Sadie, sounds like a real rollercoaster, but am so glad you still have it! I am now not convinced we are going to find it - am absolutely gutted!! xx
Reminds me that I kept rather a lot of teeth, which is never a good idea since the child in question can then find them and realise you have been lying your head off all these years.
That's so funny!! Possibly not when you're examining the contents of a potty but if you find it, I dare say it'll need a good wash before the tooth fairy will touch it...
CJ x
It's posts like this that remind me I'm still not ready to be a mum :)
Becky
x
Wow! That was a funny post! Although, I'm not sure I could go through the extreme measures of poking through the contents of the potty to look for the missing tooth!
Great post,I really like your article
I remember my mum looking through the bin was I was little too, that's brought back a funny memory lol, hope you found Betty's tooth x
When Anna swallowed her (thankfully second) tooth I had her write a note to the tooth fairy explaining what had happened. It's a letter I think I will treasure more than the tooth for it's heartwarming sincerity.
So - did you ever find the tooth?
did you find it? Presumably you had to look through the next 2 days of poos just to be sure... I don't envy you!
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