Friday, February 10, 2012

Something's Missing

The theme of today's blog post is:  What's missing?


Food goes here. . . but also, hey, where'd that toof go?




SOMETHING is amiss.  And if you can't spot it, you can perhaps be forgiven.  Over the course of two days, this picture (to your right) represents the absolute best picture I was able to capture to show it.  Or . . . not show it. . . depending upon how you look at it.  I added an arrow in case it still wasn't obvious.


Two days after the Super Bowl, while at school, my baby lost her first toof.  I say toof because it's way cuter sounding than tooth, and six is a cute age.


So she lost her toof, and that leads to a fantastic new lie to tell her, namely the the Tooth Fairy, but let's face it, if I can't even really get the concept of Santa Claus to take root in her mind, I'm sure as hell not bending over backward to insert this lie.


Complicating matters further. . . neither the school nor the daycare had any idea where the toof was.  In fact, when I picked my angel up from daycare, I enthusiastically observed, "She lost her tooth!"


The daycare worker (washing Lily's hands at the time) said, "I noticed that."


There was a pause that stretched uncomfortably long before I asked, "And. . . do you know where it might be?"  She did not.


I went through her book bag and lunch box and pockets and clothing bags. . . nothing.


When we got home I poured over the details of Lily's day as faithfully chronicled by her dedicated school aide.  There was no mention of a toof.


Really?  Because that seems like the kind of thing you'd note in your log book.  "Lily had a good day today and sat attentively in Mr. R's class.  In the afternoon we ate a hotpocket and . . . she lost her tooth."  (for example) Something like that.  But there was no mention.


The following day I asked the daycare if they had any ideas.  The morning daycare worker swears she left the daycare with all her teeth.  The afternoon daycare worker swears she arrived without one of them.  The school acknowledged that they noticed at some point during the day that it was no longer in evidence in her mouth-al area.


*Sigh*.  It made me sad in an ironic sort of way.  I have bitched about "What are we doing with all these damned teeth?" in the past.  But those were Emma's teeth.  Each blessed bloody enameled treasure of which is tucked in my wife's jewelry box in our room.  "Why are we keeping these?"  There is no good answer to this question.  And yet I find myself ironically sad because I don't have another useless bloody tooth to collect and store and bitch about unnecessarily keeping that represents Lily's contribution.  I guess it feels a bit like a tiny betrayal. . . cared enough to save all of Emma's, but didn't even get Lily's first?  Bad parents!  Bad!


Ultimately, it's probably nobody's fault.  We'd told the daycare and school that the tooth was loose, very loose, and to be on the lookout, but it would not surprise me in the slightest if Lily swallowed it at some point during the course of the day.


That night, Emma wrote a letter to the Tooth Fairy on Lily's behalf, explaining about the tooth being lost, and where it might be found, and apologizing for the inconvenience, and in the morning the Tooth Fairy had responded with a five dollar bill and reassurances that all was well written in glittering ink.


I held off writing this post thinking perhaps someone would find the tooth the next day, or the next, giving me a happy ending, but if it went where I THINK it went, it's probably just as well that nobody has.  I've had a few days to make my peace with it, and I'm not sad anymore.  My little girl is growing up.  

39 comments:

  1. Did you keep the letter? You may not have the tooth (all along as I was reading, I guessed that she probably ate it; it happens), but at least you'll have a sparkly note with a story to tell when she's older. None of the other teeth you've saved have a glittery tale to go with them.

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    1. Yeah, we kept it. . . we'll make a necklace of Emma's teeth, and have a note for Lily's. I'll let my wife wear the necklace. . .

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  2. Your daughter sounds awesome. I love how kids like ours take things so literally. I remember when my son lost his first tooth. We explained the whole Tooth Fairy deal and he wasn't too happy. He didn't like the sound of a stranger coming into his room while he was asleep. But now he's into coins, so now he likes the Tooth Fairy.

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    1. Lily's just not there in terms of even understanding the story itself. So. . . she'll have a note when she DOES understand.

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  3. Definitely keep the note. That's a better memory than the tooth, in my opinion.

    Oh, and $5?? Your tooth fairy is loaded. If I knock out one of my teeth and send it to you, will you pass it along to your fairy, please? Mine is a cheapskate.

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    1. FIRST tooth pays the most. . . and with her sister it came out and we had no money less than a $10 in the house. I had to give it to her. It's not like we could just. . . NOT pay for the first tooth.

      I asked Emma if she remembered how much she got and she was like. . . I think $5 for the first tooth, and I said. . . "Yeah, that sounds right for sure!"

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  4. A letter, a picture and a tale to tell...hopefully you'll get the next one!

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    1. Yeah. . . even if she bites my finger off while I pull it. Small price to pay.

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    2. Be sure to save it for the Finger Fairy!

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  5. Livi swallowed her first tooth but we don't "do" the tooth fairy, or santa or the easter bunny or anything else so she didn't really care. Someone asked her how much money she reiceve for each tooth and she replied, kind of shocked, "Nothing. My mum made it. Why would she pay for something she made?" Now she realises all her friends get paid for teeth but we still are not buying it. Ha. Hahaha. Mwahahahahaaaaaa.

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    1. You. . . MADE her teeth? You UK people are magical!

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    2. I did. In my womb. About six weeks after the egg met the sperm and made the zygote. You know this stuff, right? I mean it happened twice because of your sperm meeting Lesley's eggs and everything. I made the children's teeth. Even the adult ones. And I definitely am not paying out any money for them!

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  6. Toots has lost six teeth - of those, I have one. I'm pretty sure Lily's went the same place as Toots - and you don't want a necklace made with those teeth - trust me. He does not get the concept of the Tooth Fairy, the pillow or money so hey, I relate... The note is super cool - Emma is the best!!

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  7. Yay for losing her tooth! And, well, boo, for "losing" her tooth, but I like how you handled it with the letter! And aw that Emma wrote the letter for her sister!

    I used to freak out over the Tooth Fairy. I didn't want some weird creature coming into my room taking my teeth, even if she DID leave a dollar under my pillow. WHY DID SHE WANT ALL THOSE TEETH. *shudder*

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    1. AMY!!! The tooth fairy takes the teeth from the children who are too old, and gives them to the children (babies) who don't have any teeth yet. That's what happens when babies teethe. . . the tooth fairy has given them a new tooth all recycled and cleaned up from a child from whom she has collected.

      The tooth fairy is TOTALLY green and enviro-friendly.

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    2. Oh. Boy, I hope she has state-of-the-art sanitization facilities. Gah. Mouths are germy, yo.

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  8. I would be super bummed about not having the "toof"...but not bummed enough to try to find it if it did, indeed, go to the place that "shall not be named". Just think, Lily's note is much less creepy than a baby-teeth necklace. ;)

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  9. You don't know what you're supposed to do with all those teeth??? You keep them in a special treasure box and on your daughter's wedding day you give them to her groom.

    At least that's what Dixie did with Tad's teeth on "All My Children," but that was a long time ago and maybe it only counts for brides to receive their grooms' teeth. . . You know, something old, something new, something borrowed, something tooth. . .

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  10. Tommy never got the whole tooth fairy thing either lol Heck, his first tooth he lost BITING me hahaaa Cute about the letter. GROSS(!!!!!!!!!!!!!) about keeping them!! EWW! lolol

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    1. yeah. . . i agree. But people do it. My buddy just got his in the mail from his mother along with a note that said, "thought you might like to have these." he came in my office and could NOT breathe from laughing. He's like, "what the fuck am I supposed to do with these?" They were individual envelopes with the dates of tooth loss written on them.

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  11. I saw that Katie Holmes film, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark. Yeah, you want to freak the f out about the tooth fairy? Watch that.

    K is already past the fairy. She doesn't believe in that or the EB. The EB she never believed in, b/c she flipped out at the thought of a giant rabbit in her house. (Ben, on the other hand, told me he wanted to capture the easter bunny, then tie him to his bed and make him talk...)Santa is the one hold out. Ben just started losing teeth, and I have to "email" the tooth fairy and let her know he will be keeping his teeth, thank you very much. I used to keep teeth, but I think my husband starting tossing them, b/c I think we might have 2 of Katie's, that's it. She is done losing til those molars come out, though (which, I don't remember losing molars...do they come out?)

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  12. Also, when you asked what's missing, I thought glasses...that was kinda a trick photo, if you ask me.

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    1. Even the Buffy the Vampire slayer episode with Tooth Fairies was VERY creepy.

      Horrible picture is the problem. She's ALWAYS missing her glasses.

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  13. Just found two loose teeth at this household ...makes me a bit sad...the tooth fairy has not immigrated to Iceland though...

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    1. Well, at least you don't have to worry about funding the loss!

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  14. We're averaging a 50% success rate over here, with two teeth (or teef) lost and two in an old medication bottle, tucked under my nightgowns in my dresser drawer. As women, we are programmed from birth to gather, catalog, and preserve any and all appendages that become disconnected from our children's bodies, including teeth and umbilical cord stumps. Don't ask.

    And wow, a five-ski for a tooth??? I guess I'm the ultimate cheap skate, because my kid got a new toothbrush, bottle of blue mouth wash, and a dollar.

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    1. She's only getting five because that's what her sister remembers getting (it was actually 10, because we had no other cash in the house). . . so it's "even".

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  15. Thank goodness for Emma the big sister to assist with a kind letter and to also as personal accountant to remind you $5.00. Had you been left to your discretion your surely would have left her your wallet and credit cards to make up for the lost toof.

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  16. Awww, the big sis coming to the rescue for her little sister. I think I'd be slipping some cash under her pillow! No seriously, I don't have any of my kids teeth. Come to think of it, one of them is still in the J part of my son's sink......

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    1. She's always coming to her little sister's rescue.

      Get that tooth. You can't make a necklace of human teeth without it.

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  17. I still have all my teeth from when I was a kid. My mom kept them all.

    Creepy? Yes.

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    1. soooo creepy. And we're doing it too for some reason.

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  18. Yes, I am behind once again! That is adorable what Emma did for her sister. Adorable! Five bucks is a lot for a tooth, but it is the first one, after all. Plus inflation--fairy wings aren't cheap!

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    1. They have all those cleaning costs to subsidize.

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  19. Awwww, congrats!!! :-) That would drive me NUTS not knowing where the tooth is... I'm glad you've managed to get past it.

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