Friday, August 12, 2011

Baby teeth: trash or treasure?


So it's past 11 pm right now, as I'm up flittering around as a good tooth fairy should. Since my son is 6 now, I'm getting a lot of tooth fairy practice in lately.

This little tooth fairy folds her one dollar bill up really, really tiny. You know, because everything in tooth fairy land is super small.




A good little tooth fairy knows when the tooth is being placed under a pillow. That is, as long as the tooth-loser tells her. (While tucking in my little guy tonight, he informed me that he put his tooth under his pillow LAST night, but without success. Thanks for letting me know that the tooth fairy is sort of a slacker, little dude. My LAME first thought was to reply, "Well maybe tooth fairies have meetings on Wednesday nights." Isn't that the dumbest, most grown-up answer??!! Nice and imaginative, Les. The problem is that he sometimes likes to hold onto his lost teeth for a couple days before trading them in for some cash. But this one just came out yesterday! I can't keep up with his whims.)

This little tooth fairy also takes photos using a flash in her victim's customer's peaceful room.


And last but not least, this little tooth fairy has a confession: I just can't save those strange, gross baby teeth.

I've tried before. Honestly. But after a few months of looking at it, I get weirded out. The dried blood, the fact that it's a piece of bone detached from a body...I'm sorry, but my dad kept ours in a small glass vial, and pulled the vial out one day to proudly show us once we grew up. That image in my head of a vial full of twenty year old baby teeth is not going away anytime soon. Aren't you even a little bummed out about the top photo?

I'm like super sentimental and all. But too bad, so sad. Baby teeth go in the trash.

So tell me. Do you keep 'em (or plan to)? Am I crazy for throwing away the symbols of such precious little milestones?? 


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12 comments:

  1. I save them, but I'm not sure why. They are sort of gross. What am I going to do with them? Don't you remember that so many kids used to use them for their science fair project - soak in milk and water and coke? I have them in envelopes with the names of the kids, so I don't mix them up - again, why? Then, I had them tucked away so little believing eyes didn't find them - and when we moved across the nation - I'm not sure where I tucked them, so I hope that little believing eyes don't find them before I do. :)

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  2. too funny! cracking up at the "customer" part.

    i dug mine up & used them for a sciene fair project in middle school. all about drinking liquids & effects on enamel. HAHAHAHA

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  3. Haha. I don't think I could save them either. I think it's icky. My mom saved ours for a while, but then she just threw them away. You can only save so many things with 6 kids! Ha!

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  4. This is the first time I've seen the tooth fairy take a picture of her victim. LOL! Good for him, he's a dollar richer now. And a new tooth will bloom. Haha! My mom also threw away my baby teeth and I cried because those were mine! LOL! Funny stuff to remember. :D

    Patsy Dupre

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  5. i am not a tooth fairy.
    i am married to one though.
    yes. can't you imagine reedo in a cute little fairy skirt....
    darling.
    i have never given money under a pillow and because of my lack of detail oriented-ness (you love me and my made up words, i know :), your post makes me realize that i have NEVER even thought about asking what my handsome toothfairy does with the teeth....
    not until this very minute.
    hmmmmmm.
    i'll have to ask him.
    i know i know...mother of the year award for me!

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  6. I agree. They're disgusting. No teeth have been lost in our house (do dog teeth count? gross), but my mom still has mine and they are half disintegrated into a sand-like box of nastiness.

    I don't want to think about this anymore. ew.

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  7. Yuck. I always thought they were gross, my husband disagrees so I hand them over to him. I have no idea where he is saving them, really I don't care. (I'm such a good mom!) But, I think it's nasty. The tooth fairy also just recently forgot to visit one little boy who lost his tooth, the gig is up around here though I'm sure they'll still leave them out for the cash!

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  8. i keep them. i don't know why.

    i told my kids that when they were born we got a list of names and numbers from the hospital, including the tooth fairies:
    24 bicuspid st.
    cumulus, tv (toothville),
    12345
    her number is 1-too-thf-airy

    i've warned the kids that if they call her she will not come for 3 generations of lost teeth. do they want to ruin it for their own children- great great grandchildren?

    think i'm crazy yet?

    we have some interesting t.f. stories...allow me to educate you on how it's done. :-)

    t.f. does take nights off. it may be 1-3 nights before she comes.

    if you swallow your tooth, t.f. will charge and extraction fee of 75 cents. she'll leave a receipt with your quarter taped to the toilet seat.

    t.f. isn't playing with a full deck; she may come one night and leave you 91 cents (weird). she will return the next night with the remaining 9 cents and your favorite candy bar.

    t.f. is generous on b-days. lose a tooth on your birthday, get the dollar amount of your age.
    (i tried to lose a tooth on purpose last year on my birthday. 37 bucks would have been nice).

    if you're out of town and lose your tooth, money and a note will be under your pillow when you arrive at home (we have a cool substitute tooth fairy neighbor).

    t.f. may not leave a dollar bill, but instead a trail of 100 pennies.

    okay, i'm done boring you with our crazy t.f. stories (and there are more).

    happy tooth fairying to you!

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  9. First...I totally would have used the "toothfairy's have meetings on Wed" line. hahaha
    Second, the teeth go directly in the trash! A fe years ago my MIL actually gave me a vial filled with my husbands baby teeth. She thought I might want them! I'm not sure I've ever been more grossed out by anything in my life.

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  10. I love where the tooth fairy left the money!! Is it personalized? Where did you buy it? A tooth with a smiley face looks very cute! This made me smile... Thanks! :D

    Diana Dickert

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  11. I love the story. I say save it. I save my kids in a Tooth Trap. I got them so that I could help explain that I'm the one that's been stealing their teeth all these years. If they decide to throw them away, that's up to them.

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  12. Yeah! There are just some mothers who are just very sentimental about their children's teeth. It seems like the tooth is a remembrance of your childhood, and sometimes mothers just want to hold on to that.

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