Finally, during our summer holidays, Joshua had a wobbly tooth!! It was a proud moment for a 6-year old – his first ever! To make it more fun, the adult tooth had protruded and was slowly growing and edging the baby one out.
By the time we got home, the baby one wasn’t wobbly enough and needed to be extracted to make room for the adult tooth!
The night before the trip to the dentist, I prepped Joshua.
Me: “Joshua, when the teeth doctor takes your tooth out tomorrow, I’m sure it’s not going to hurt very much. But, I want you to know and be ready that there may be lots of blood. There’s nothing to be scared of and seeing and feeling the blood is all okay!”
Joshua: Hesitantly….”Ahhh….okay”
Me: “And you know what is the best way to stop all the blood coming out?”
Joshua: “Ahhhh…..no” Still not sure where I’m going with this.
Me: “Eating something very cold like ice cream!”
Joshua: His eyes immediately lit up, and his lips curled up with a smile. “I can have ice cream after seeing the teeth doctor tomorrow?”
Me: “Yes, if you are very brave tomorrow and not cry, we will buy you ice cream right after! How does that sound?”
Joshua: “Yay!! Ice cream!! What about the tooth fairy?”
Me: “What do you know about the tooth fairy?”
Joshua: “The tooth fairy gives you a coin after you lose your teeth.”
Me: “Do you believe in the tooth fairy?”
Joshua: “Ehhhh…..not really!?!”
Me: “Well, do you want to get a coin from the tooth fairy tomorrow, like a $5 coin. Or do you want to get ice cream?”
Joshua: As if it was a complete stupid question….”Ice cream of course!!”
Me: “Great, ice cream it is! Good choice anyways – the ice cream will definitely cost more than the $5 the tooth fairy will give you!”
Joshua: “Thanks mommy!”
With that, we are now all set! Our family’s tooth fairy will now deliver ice cream to the boys when they lose their baby teeth, and we do away with all the politics of how much money to give kids for a tooth!
You Silly Mommy! 