And Then There Were 19...

Katie burst through our front door after school. She was beaming and so pleased with herself. She shouted, "Mummy! Look at me!". This is what I saw:

Here's a close-up:

Katie had lost her first tooth! She had lost it in today in the school yard, and then dropped it on the ground. Katie told her teacher, and her teacher hunted around until she found the tiny tooth. Katie then held the tooth in her hands and showed all the other children. Even the second graders, much to Katie's pleasure! Katie was then sent to the office where the secretary gave her a plastic tooth on a necklace that opens up to store real teeth. It was all very dramatic...just the way Katie likes it!

Katie was very excited because she knew that the Tooth Fairy would come and leave her a little surprise. Bethie felt left out. She, too, wanted a surprise from the Tooth Fairy. I volunteered to yank a tooth from her mouth, but Bethie declined the offer. So, being her difficult self, Bethie announced that she would not be going to sleep because she wanted to stay up and see the Tooth Fairy.

Katie was infuriated. She knew that the Tooth Fairy doesn't come unless everyone is sleeping. But Bethie was determined to see the Tooth Fairy, and determined to upset Katie. So, I came up with a solution. We would trick the Tooth Fairy into believing that Bethie had lost a tooth, too. Katie warned me that the Tooth Fairy was very clever and not so easily tricked. I told Bethie that I was smarter than the Tooth Fairy, and then I got to work. I hunted down some white foamy thingy, and cut it into the shape of a tiny wee tooth. Bethie was delighted, and Katie agreed that it would definitely fool the Tooth Fairy.

Both girls went happily to bed: one with a tooth under her pillow and the other with a piece of white foam under her pillow. Tomorrow, both will wake up with a quarter (okay, ten quarters) under their pillows. Because when you're five years old, the world is a magical place.