Night-time Visit

     The Battle....trying to convince Mallory that the Tooth Fairy is not scary. The middle of June, was the first lost tooth in our family. It came as a big surprise. You would think that being the research loving mom I would have known that this day was fast approaching. Not so. Grandma Denise (my Mom) and I tried for two weeks to convince Mal that she just needed to pull it out. However, Mallory had other ideas, she was going to hang on to her tooth as long as possible. She and Austin were both excited and terrified at the same time that a tooth would fall out. We have been talking them both up for thier 1st visit to the Dentist. I thought that we had done a good job of explaining that this was natural and even a right of passage. All of my attempts were met with tears or looks of horror. She didn't want anything to do with becoming a big girl with a new tooth.
     The fateful night arrived without any of us aware.....I was at the computer, Dustin and Austin in the Bat Cave (Austin's room) playing Legos. Mallory marched down the hall and demanded I see how loose her tooth had become. I knew that it was going to be any day now because when she wiggled it there was only a very small root holding it in place. So off we marched back down the hall to the Bat Cave where we would proudly show the boys how loose it was.
     "Daddy, look at my tooth. I can wiggle it lots!"
     "Let me see. Mallory what are you talking about I don 't see a tooth? You just have a hole. "
     "What!?!? Mom..." she screamed.
     " Mal let me see," I was thinking Daddy was just giving her a hard time. At that moment I saw blood and feared she had swallowed it. Dustin went to the hall that we had just proudly stomped through. No tooth. So the search begun on the Bat Cave floor.
     Meanwhile, Mal is screaming because she has seen her own blood. Then, like a light being turned on she stops the wailing. "I found it," she stated with a small shutter. "It was under my tongue!"
     With this revalation an overwhelming mass circles her for a better look. "Let me see," being demanded on all sides. The tooth in question is slowly revealed. All our minds think the same thought, it's so tiny.  
      I go and get a baggy to keep it in. We write all the important info on the outside, plunk the tiny thing into the bag, and Mallory proudly zips it shut. Now comes the trying part of the evening. Brushing our teeth. After much convincing, Dustin did the job for her. Tucking her into bed we both asked if she wanted to give it to the Tooth Fairy. Nope. She was determined to save it forever. Thus, bringing us to last night, when she finally relenquished her tooth to the underside of her pillow.
     Needless to say, the Tooth Fairy made an exchange in the night. Austin is still anxiously awaiting his time to come. I'm sure that we will see it soon.