The Tooth Fairy

My son lost his fifth tooth on Sunday.  He's almost eight, so he got a late start with losing teeth, but for all of that, he has sure given the tooth fairy the run around.

The first tooth he lost by punching himself in the mouth at Tae Kwon Do, and swallowed it.  His grandma helped him write a note to the tooth fairy explaining why his tooth wasn't actually under his pillow.

The second he lost easily enough, but then wanted to take it to school for show and tell, so after placing it in a baggie, misplacing it for some days, finding it, misplacing it again, finding it, then taking it to school, it finally found it's way under his pillow weeks later.

The third he lost, as in, it fell out but he couldn't find it.  I don't know that he even noticed it coming out.  He works hard at avoiding any pain or unpleasantness, so he has a habit of waiting until the tooth falls out completely on its own.  He didn't even bother with the tooth fairy.  I don't think he remembered.

The fourth came out, and was immediately put under the pillow.

This one...  it had been a long time since his last tooth.  It was loose for months.  I think he finally got tired of working around it when he ate, so he finally pulled it out on Sunday night.  He very excitedly put it under his pillow.

However, the tooth fairy was a little out of practice, and completely forgot to stop by.  Neither did she realize it until he made a comment the next day about her not having come.  Oops.

The following night... same story.  After the second night, he was pretty confused and disappointed that she hadn't come.  But ever the optimist, on the third night he said "I hope she comes tonight!"  Just to make sure I didn't forget this time, I slipped it out from under his pillow while singing him to sleep.  While I was waiting to make sure he was fully asleep before slipping it back in, he walked out of his room "looking for his flashlight."  I asked him why.  He needed it to look under his pillow!  He was sure he'd put the tooth there...

As smoothly as possible, I palmed the tooth pillow and pretended to search under his bed.  I placed it in a slightly hidden place, and asked him to turn on the light.  He then joined me and "found" it.  I told him to put it back under his pillow and go to bed.

Within a minute he came back out.  Apparently, she'd already come and there was extra money inside!  He showed me that there was an extra $.50, along with a note from the tooth fairy that said "Because I was late, + .50."

After a minute's hesitation, he asked if he could write her a note.  Sure.  He asked me to write it for him.  He wanted to say, "it's ok.  You can keep it."  He didn't want her to feel bad about being late on the delivery!  He put the extra .50 back in with the note, and then prayed to God to send her back.  He explained to me that she wouldn't know to come back, because there was no tooth, but he hoped God could get the message to her.

I think it might take a few days for her to get the message...