teeth

if you've ever walked into a crowd of six year olds, you probably have noticed odd behaviors. fingers in mouths, dreamy expressions, the tounge working in strange places in their mouths. it's not a new finagled thing, either. apparently this phenomenon has been around since the invention of the tooth! i have never seen my son with his fingers in his mouth more than i have witnessed in the last few months. i am so happy to have forced the flu vaccine on him, i'm sure it has saved us from many doctors office visits! since he has turned six, he has lost three teeth, with a fourth soon to follow. he is so excited to have his teeth falling out, but not for the reason you think, mostly for the loot the tooth fairy leaves behind. and i use the word "loot" because that is exactly what it is! seriously, where was this tooth fairy when i was six? i was lucky to get a silver dollar and one time i remember getting a two dollar bill. so how the heck has the price of a tooth gone up so much? well, enter in the loot giving tooth fairy who comes to our house with five dollars in gold coins to leave to a sleeping, toothless boy. seriously, what happens when a molar falls out? oh, another reason for calling it "loot" is for the pure and simple reason we have a resident pirate at our house. she is small and very cute with sticky fingers for anything shiny. andrew now knows not to leave the vast amount of gold coins laying anywhere within our pirate's reach. happy tooth wiggling!