Tooth Fairy

Miss Kate had a couple of adult teeth come in behind her baby teeth.  We've known this for awhile.  The dentist gave her some time to try to wiggle those baby teeth out, but they just weren't very loose at all, so this Tuesday Justin took her to have those pesky teeth pulled.

We both expected screaming and crying--before, during, and after.  We told her early on Monday morning, so she would have some time to process it all, but not so long that she could collect horror stories or spend days fretting.  We told her that the dentist would help her wiggle her teeth out--and the girlie was excited, after all that means that the Tooth Fairy would be visiting.

Tuesday morning she came down the stairs early in the morning with tears in her eyes.  I asked her if she was scared and she looked at me incredulously and shook her head, "No."  Then in halting speech she told me, "I'm so hungry.  I want to eat."

We opted for sedation in the form of some liquid that would help her sleep through the procedure, so she couldn't eat that morning.  Justin took her, thinking she might be so out of it that she would need to be carried out of the office.  Kate fought the sedation, of course, since we paid out of pocket for her not to remember the whole thing, that failed.  She's just too nosy!  The gal who brought her back told Justin that she whimpered a bit, but never cried.

She seemed to think the whole thing was an exciting adventure.  She told me about asking the kid next to her if she had something on her lip after it went numb and felt funny.  She told us she didn't even know when the teeth were pulled.  She laughed about the 'band-aid' (a gauze pad) in her mouth.  And she had no pain the rest of the day.  I had been expecting to dole out some Tylenol.  I expected panic when she saw her gums.  I expected sleepiness and maybe some vomiting.  Instead, she watched cartoons without dozing and wrote the Tooth Fairy a little note.

The next morning she was very excited to find two shiny quarters and a reply from Fairy Faye of Toothfaria thanking her for the teeth.  She couldn't keep her eyes open with the flash though!

She's having her doubts about the Tooth Fairy.  It is interesting to see the gears turning.  She tells me that fairy tales aren't real, but she sure does like those quarters.  She decided I was the Tooth Fairy.  I asked her how she came to that conclusion.  Wednesday she said, "You left the house and then came back in pretending to be the Tooth Fairy."

"I can honestly say, I did not leave the house and come back in last night."

Honestly.