Oops!

I always joke with Owen that I want to be the one to pull out his loose teeth.   I usually suggest methods of pulling that my parents shocked me with – like tying one end of a string to his tooth and the other to a doorknob, and then slamming the door.  Or tying one end of a string to his tooth and another to the car bumper, and driving away.  For some reason, Owen never thinks these are good ideas…

Owen has had two adult teeth trying to grow in.  The baby teeth have not fallen out, so the adult teeth are growing in behind the spot where they are meant to be.  The dentist recently told Owen that he should wiggle his teeth a lot because it is much better for the new teeth to have the spot and the babies to get out.

Owen thought that advice was funny, and quickly pulled out one of them, but the other has been stubbornly staying put and Owen has grown bored with the game. Tonight, I reminded Owen to wiggle the tooth, and he was half-hearted, which I just don’t get.  I remember getting a kick out of making my mom squirm when I was little by pulling my teeth out in front of her.  (probably as payback for her evil tooth extraction suggestions…) Furthermore, the tooth has been sticking straight out rather than up and it just screams to be pulled!  So, I reached over and twisted his tooth (with his permission, of course.)  I felt a little give in the tooth, Owen said “huh?” and then his tooth started bleeding all over.  Oops!

Both of us were really surprised!  I joke about pulling out Owen’s teeth,  I certainly don’t want to steal any of the excitement and pride that my 6 year old feels when he has pulled out a tooth.  Luckily the bleeding was easy to stop and Owen didn’t seem to mind that I had been the one to actually pull it out.  He just kept laughing about it.  I felt relieved that he was still excited -which I attributed to the immanent arrival of the tooth fairy. But, Owen wasn’t laughing because the tooth fairy was on her way, he was laughing because he had a story to tell!

Owen called Eric right away.  “Dad, I just called to tell you good-night,” he began, as smooth and as casual as ever. “And that Mom just ripped my tooth out!!!” hysterical laughter…

Owen later informed me, I “can’t wait to tell my teachers and friends how you ripped my tooth out!”

What do you think the tooth fairy give for teeth that have been “ripped out” by the owner’s mother?!?!