The Tooth Fairy's Last Flight

The Tooth Fairy was gifted Keith's very last baby tooth tonight. Well, I guess you could technically call it a tooth. Keith has been notorious for not wanting to wiggle and/or pull his teeth.

Consequently, he has had several that have dangled dangerously until hubby and I insisted that he pull it out before he went to sleep and choked on it. The last four molars have been eaten away by the permanent teeth. This last tooth was barely a quarter of what it probably should have been. I think it literally just fell out of his head.

Hubby & I should be mourning the loss of his final baby tooth- but we're not. We are cheering wildly because the orthodontist had been pushing for this for the last 6+ months. We were beginning to have visions of him wearing braces through high school, college, his wedding, etc., all because the stupid baby teeth were holding up the works.

I say that the Tooth Fairy was gifted with the tooth, because Keith never put it under his pillow. He very unceremoniously handed it over to hubby in a plastic baggie.

"Here, dad," he said casually.

"What is this?" hubby queried.

"My tooth," Keith said, never pausing to look up.

Hubby turned to me.

"Did you see this?" he asked.

"Wow, I can't believe it stayed in that long... Are you going to give him a dollar?"

Hubby considered this for a minute.

"Nah. If the girls didn't see him put it under the pillow, they won't be looking for the money tomorrow. And I can use it for a diet coke during the Sunday School hour at church."

"There you go again, making such a strong case for Parent of the Year!"

I carefully tucked away the last of Keith's baby teeth and mentally noted that this was yet another milestone in the course of such a very short time. It made me wonder if he would wake up tomorrow and ask hubby to help him shave.

He's still my baby boy. But now he's also becoming my favorite young man.

And, he'll definitely have a wonderful, straight smile (sans baby teeth) when he gets there.