Breaking the Tooth Fairy Bank

Houston has always been a child who loves money!  Even at a young age, he would empty all of Hayes' piggy bank money into his own--bills and coins alike.  He will eat anything or do anything as long as the reward is a dollar.  We've even learned that a painful punishment is to ground him from his money.

Since he has lost a few teeth, he sees his mouth as full of gold.  He lost the front bottom teeth sometime in kindergarten.  Unfortunately, I did not record it.  It seemed forever before his top teeth started wiggling.  One day they did start wiggling -- one more than the other.  He worked on that tooth all day long.  Every night for a week, Houston would plead with Adam to try and pull the tooth.  Adam would wiggle it, and seeing that it was a lot wigglier than the day before, he would give it a try.  He would get a paper towel and yank as hard as he could, but with no success.  Houston would begin to cry.  "Did that hurt, Houston?" Adam would ask.  And through his tears, Houston would admit, "No, I just want that tooth to come out!"  This process repeated for an entire week.

Finally, the tooth came out!  Houston could not contain himself.  He was ready to go to bed right after dinner.  He cleverly commented how the tooth fairy had brought $5 for his last teeth.  She must bring at least $6 for this one!  The tooth fairy had always planned on cutting back.  So that night, the tooth fairy left $4.

Third lost tooth 8/26/10

The next day being Saturday, Houston could not wait to spend that money!  Adam took all the boys to Toys R Us to pick out a Bakugan.  Imagine my surprise when they walked out with a $32 Bakugan gamer pack!  (I knew I should have gone with them!)

It wasn't but a week later and Houston's second tooth on the top is really loose.  Having learned our lesson, we did not try to pull it every night.  Now more experienced in tooth-pulling, we knew when a tooth was ready.  That little tooth dangled sideways for several days.  With the big gap next to it from the previously pulled tooth, it had a lot of room to hang around!  He was so crazy to look at--especially when he would make you one of those crazy faces he is known for.

Last night, the tooth came out!  (Hallelujah!  Sorry, buddy but I don't think I could have looked at that crazy tooth one more day!)  The tooth fairy brought $2 in quarters.  I went to get Houston and Hayes up for school and they were already awake, playing in their room.  Houston tells me how much money he received.  He explains to me that he is going to save his money this time.  But not three minutes later, he asks me if he could have three more dollars to add to his two dollars.  "Then I'll just need one more dollar for a new Bakugan!"  He is such a little Adam.  Quite the negotiator.  You see, he didn't ask for the full amount he needed.  He thought he would "sweeten the deal" by only asking for a portion of what he needed.  The quarters went in the piggy bank!  But don't feel bad for the guy, he's got two more teeth bound to fall out in the next month.  If only I could convince him to save his tooth fairy money for college!

That's a big space to fill!