I Am The Tooth Fairy

Looking Like Don Vito Corleone

TJ is now at that age where he is losing his baby teeth.  This the age where one by one first teeth get loose, bend over at grossly odd angles, and eventually come out.

Actually, it has only been two so far.  Each time we make sure that the tooth is conveniently place in in a plastic bag and put under the pillow.  As we go to bed I make the exchange of the white little nub for a one dollar coin.  That's the easy part.

I am the tooth fairy.

TJ's second loose tooth was hampered by his adult tooth coming in at a gross, odd angle behind it.  That baby tooth was stubborn too.  It lasted for almost two weeks to the distress of Lisa who imagined (and helped me imagine) the dental bill for braces if our son's teeth came in crooked. 

At lunch over the weekend I told TJ that I was going to pull it out.  TJ, ever the nervous one when it comes to medical stuff, was definitely uneasy with the idea.  TJ knows it must be "bad" when dad takes over as doctor.  Remember, I'm the one who gave him an enema(s).  I'm the one who, when he jumped off the couch and bit through his lip, stopped the bleeding with a towel and ice (as opposed to a trip to Urgent Care where Lisa would have taken him).  However, in this case, mom was at the table and wasn't saying, "No," so it must be okay.

Turns out baby teeth are much harder to grasp a hold of than I ever realized.  My big fingers just couldn't get a grip on it - not enough to yank it.

I keep a set of common house tools in the pantry, right behind where I sit at the kitchen table.  Among the tools are a pair of nice, long, needle nose pliers.

Lisa's eyes got wide as I pulled them out but TJ seemed pretty cool with it.  Maybe he thought I was kidding.  I gently grabbed the tooth and .37 seconds later it was out.  Along with a gusher of blood.  Lisa ran from the table in a combination of utter surprise, disgust, and empathetic pain for her son. As soon as he saw the tooth pinched in between the ends of the pliers TJ cried. 

I am the dentist.

So now TJ is running to his mom, his mouth full of blood, I am running after him trying to get a paper towel in the gap left by the tooth so he doesn't bleed all over her or the couch, and Grant is sitting at the table taking it all in and making mental notes for when he's older. 

That's all for now.  If I undertake any other minor surgery I'll post it here first.