McKenna had a tooth that was all wibbly wobbly. Even after working with the little ones for 23 years, a wibble wobble tooth still gets me. It is not my thing. 🤢 But she’s been “working on” this tooth for days. It was THIS close.

So when she came in screaming from the bus on Tuesday, I knew it was tooth related. I assumed it had fallen out at school. Nope. She had twisted it completely around and was freaking out. I was, too. But I put on my granny panties and took care of business. I could attempt to untwist it or I could just yank it. I went for the latter. It didn’t take much to pop that thing out. She was one happy camper.

She retrieved her Tooth Fairy pillow from where it hangs on her door and stuffed that tooth inside. She was excited by the dollar bill and Dollar Tree activity book the Tooth Fairy left. Good thing the Tooth Fairy had a few singles in her pocket book.

Side note. If I can give a word of advise to the parents of 5 year olds…get a tooth fairy pillow. You will not regret it. It saves from sneaking into the room and then running for your life while dodging legos and Barbie shoes. Both equally dangerous by the way. 

Also, always have singles available. The Tooth Fairy can’t break a $20. 

Imagine my surprise when she announced less than 24 hours later the neighbor tooth was wiggly, too. I was even more shocked when the damn thing fell out at dinner. I was frazzled feeding my small brood, cleaning up, and then getting everyone tucked in. Playing Tooth Fairy slipped my mind.

Until I opened the door to see her standing there quietly sobbing. I am an asshole parent. It was 6:30 am. I hadn’t had coffee. I had been awake for all of 45 seconds. I thought quick.

• Maybe the Tooth Fairy didn’t get the message that her tooth had fallen out.
• Maybe she was running late.
• Maybe she ran into traffic or bad weather.
• Maybe she had Covid.
• Maybe her allergies were acting up.

I quickly texted a couple friends for help. One texted back pretty quickly and was willing to help. I deleted our message archive, changed her name in my phone and got to work.

Hey McKenna. I found a phone number for the Tooth Fairy on the internet. Do you want me to text her?

Crisis averted. Now I need to set an alarm to remember to play Tooth Fairy tonight.