Tooth Fairy Tales

When I was a little girl, it was so exciting to lose a tooth, because then I could expect a visit from the tooth fairy. My lost tooth, left in a glass of water on my dresser at bedtime, was always promptly exchanged for a single dime while I slept. A shiny dime was a reasonable amount of change back then; with it, I could buy a bottle of pop from the lobby pop machine, or two full sized candy bars, or two glazed donuts from the next-door bakery, with 2 cents to spare. A dime would also buy a brown paper bag full of penny candy or, if my sweet tooth wasn’t beckoning, even a comic book.

By the time my oldest children started to lose their baby teeth, the tooth fairy left a quarter for most teeth. But, when Meagan was about seven, there was one time when the tooth fairy was extra generous.

Our family, along with Bill's parents, his brother, Jim, and his sister JoAnn's family, was staying in a large cabin at Fort Robinson. Meagan had been wiggling her two loose front teeth for days, but they just wouldn't fall out. We were all sitting at the kitchen table in the cabin when JoAnn offered to pull the teeth, and Meagan, amazingly, accepted. The teeth came right out--how exciting! JoAnn handed them to Meagan, who promptly dropped them on the linoleum kitchen floor. We all looked for them, without success. JoAnn found a broom and started to sweep the floor, but she still couldn't find either tooth. So she decided to sweep behind the old-fashioned stove--and out scurried a mouse. JoAnn screamed and jumped up onto a chair. Bill's mom, Beth, did the same.

After things settled down, we convinced Meagan that some mouse had undoubtedly eaten the missing teeth. Someone suggested that she write a letter to the tooth fairy to explain about the lost teeth, so that's what she did. Then, she put the note in an empty glass on the kitchen counter. The next morning, that glass was full of money, more than $20.00!

Toothless Meagan

A few years later, when Victoria, and then Levi, started to lose their teeth, the tooth fairy's donation had increased to $1.00 for each tooth. I don't think anything has changed much for my grandkids, except the three oldest have all lost their first teeth before they even turned five.

^ ^ ^ ^ ^

As exciting as it was to lose my baby teeth, I haven't been nearly so eager to lose more teeth in recent years. I've had to have two more premolars pulled recently. I take good care of my teeth, but it doesn't seem to matter.

When I was a young child, it wasn't common for children to see the dentist because most people didn't see any need to care for baby teeth that would naturally fall out in just a few short years. As a result, my baby teeth were so rotten that they fell out in pieces. Additionally, there was no fluoride added to toothpaste or municipal water supplies, and I was six years old before I even owned a toothbrush. All of that undoubtedly affected my overall lifelong dental health.

Toothless me

But, when my dentist asks why I keep losing teeth, I remind him that I chipped several teeth in a serious car accident forty-some years ago. I'm sure my teeth were significantly compromised as a result of that accident. (Bill suffered a skull fracture in the same accident, so I've always thought I got off easy.)

Over the years, I've tried out some dental insurance policies, but I've decided it all evens out. I can either pay the insurance company or the dentist; for me, whichever option I choose, the cost is nearly the same.

Where's that tooth fairy when I need her?!?

But, in spite of my annoying tooth issues, and anything else life throws at me these days, I can still say, along with the Apostle Paul...

At the moment I have all I need—and more! 
And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches,
which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. 
Philippians 4:18a, 19







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