Are All Kids This Obsessed With Losing Their Teeth?
“I’m going to brush my teeth!” My 5-year-old daughter told me as she ran to the bathroom.
It was the third time that day, and not even dark yet. I wasn’t about to complain about her increased interest in the habit but I was curious why.
“It will help me lose my teeth!” She said. “London says I’m really close to losing two teeth!” She told me while pointing at some of her bottom teeth.
“Let me see,” I asked her as I went to wiggle her teeth and see if they were loose. They weren’t.
“Oh, well they don’t seem loose to me,” I told her.
“YES THEY ARE! LONDON SAID!” How dare I claim to know more than her friends.
I let her continue to brush and dream of losing her first tooth, never mind the fact that we brush our teeth and keep them clean to keep them from falling out… At least as adults.
“Why do you want to lose a tooth so bad?” I asked her.
“Because I want to get money from the tooth fairy. I wonder how much she gives,” she debated to herself. “I want a million dollars so I can go to Disney Cruise, Disney World and Disneyland!”
I had to let her down gently. Tooth fairy does not have that kind of money.
“Have lots of your friends lost their teeth?” I asked her.
“Yes! Like everyone except me and Jayden girl,” she told me with a tone of disappointment.
“It’s ok! Your teeth will come out when it’s time.”
Is this the first in a series of jealous developmental milestone talks? First baby teeth then next thing I know we’ll be talking about everyone else wearing makeup, needing bras!
As she eagerly brushed while looking in the mirror, I snapped a few pictures accepting the reality that true, soon she will be losing her first tooth and this mouth of baby chompers will never been the same.
*Tear*
She’s pretty good about brushing her teeth but I still go in there after her and make sure they’re scrubbed down well. Between movie nights with candy and popcorn, Valentine’s treats, there’s a lot to miss.
My son joins in too, and barring any rough and tough accidents, he shouldn’t be losing any baby teeth soon.
Of course when she finally does lose her first tooth you’ll know about it! I mean, talk about a proud mom moment!
PS: For anyone wondering I’m thinking the tooth fairy will bring a $2 bill. One of my colleagues at work told me years ago she does that for her kids and the cute idea stuck! Definitely not enough for a Disney trip, but a great excuse to refresh her on the concept of savings.
How much money does the tooth fairy leave at your house?
Also, if your kids hate brushing their teeth (is that even a thing?) here’s some motivation:
1. A cute son from Elmo. It’s my jam (Warning: You’ll never get it out of your head after you hear it):
2. Health incentives: I didn’t realize that at least 20% of children ages 5-11 have at least one untreated decayed tooth and tooth decay is the most common chronic disease in kids age 6-11 and adolescents age 12-19. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommend using a smear of fluoridated toothpaste once the teeth start to come through. Fluoride is an anti-cavity active ingredient available in over-the-counter (OTC) products that helps prevent tooth decay and cavities.
Here are some more helpful facts about oral care.
*This post was brought to you by a sleep-deprived not-so-new-mom in partnership with the CHPA Educational Foundation’s KnowYourOTCs blogging program. All opinions (and typos) are my own.
Tags: funny stories, kyotcs, lil j, teeth brushing
my girl is the same way but now a total of 4 fell out and 1 on its way out and shes’s not feeling it anymore, lol. constintly be asked “will i still be cute even though i look like a pumpkin??” lol. “always, my dear, always”
Son was never impressed with the whole tooth fairy thing. He use to say he felt violated that someone would sneak into his room and steal from him. My kid was weird or still is.
What a cutie! It’s wonderful that she is developing good habits. My son is grown and I don’t even remember what the Tooth Fairy used to bring him, but I think the idea of the $2 bill is great. 🙂
Lory
http://www.therobinsnestdeisigns.com
My daughter is six and she’s lost six teeth so far. The tooth fairy brought $5 for the first tooth lost and a $1 for every other tooth lost!
This is just precious. That tooth fairy is one heck of a motivator. I wish my son had been this enthusiastic about brushing.
I remember desperately wanting to lose my teeth and working so hard to get one out as soon as it was only slightly loose. In our house I think we only ended up getting 50 cents, maybe a dollar for the first one. But it was still thrilling when the tooth fell out and the tooth fairy came. – Katy
Our tooth fairy brought a fifty-cent piece. I always felt ripped off cuz everyone else got at least $1, but by husband only got a quarter per tooth. Our tooth fairy was going to bring a $1 coin, but she forgot to go to the bank. So. She brings a dollar in whatever coins/bills she can scrounge up… And we’ve only lost two teeth in this house so far. 78 left to go… (Yes, I am counting down. Our tooth fairy is lame.)
I think we did $5 for the first one, and the rest (five others so far) have been somewhere between $1 and $2, depending on what we had handy and how big of a tooth it was. A couple times the best we came up with was one or two of those dollar coins, which look pretty special. Other times I did six quarters just because I knew he’d like putting so many in his bank. I actually forgot once, too, so beware of that! It’s easy to do when you’re waiting for them to fall asleep and then actually get tired yourself! It is sad to watch the little kid teeth disappear, and now I worry so much more about his brushing skills because these teeth are for keeps! Oh, and my son didn’t lose his first until about the middle of first grade, so we had quite a wait ourselves! Maybe gross her out with a couple stories about how icky it can be to have it wiggling there…not enough to scare her, but maybe to chill her out a bit longer 🙂
Baby G LOVES brushing his teeth. When anyone else brushes their teeth he stares saying “ahhhh.”
And I LOVE that $2 idea! Nice! We used to get the dollar coins!