Speaking of Herbie the Dentist...

This chuckle comes to you compliments of Colton. Last night as he was getting ready for bed he showed me his wiggly front tooth. Its a hangin by a thread, if even that. He didn't want me to pull it and so I sent him to bed. A few minutes passed and he quietly came and stood in the hallway. When I looked up and saw him he broke into tears...

"Mom, I'm so afraid!"

"Bubba, come here, what is scaring you?" I asked.

"My tooth"... sob, sob. Hysterical crying now.

"Oh Coltie, it will be okay, you already know it doesn't hurt when it comes out and then the tooth fairy will come." I tried to reassure him.

"But mom, remember what Grandma said? She said you SWALLOWED your tooth and what if when I fall asleep, the tooth comes out? What if it comes out and I don't know it and I swallow my tooth in my sleep!" I could choke! I could die!"

Now I am the one hysterical, laughing of course! Its true. When my mother went to pull my front tooth we were camping with all of my older cousins. Boys, who were trying to tease me. They taunted me with "Just don't swallow your tooth no matter what... or the ambulance has to come and they take you to the hospital and rip open your stomach to get it out!"

I am listening to my cousins as my mother tries to "flick" my tooth to see which way to grasp and pull it and oops, she flicks it down the back of my throat and I swallow it! I'll never forget my mother shrieking above my sobs "Marlene, get over here now! Look what your boys have done! Now what do I do?" I learned that day that the tooth fairy comes even for missing teeth, and she pays way more for the ones that have such dramatic stories attached to them. Plus instead of the hospital, I got to go to Ralphs for ice cream, accompanied by my cousins.

I managed to convince Colton he would be fine and the tooth would wait until it had some help to come out. He woke this morning, his tooth still hanging, but he assured me he slept on his side, just in case!