I remember loosing my baby teeth. Showing off a really wiggly tooth for several days then poking my tongue through the curiously empty spot between my teeth after it fell out. For my little girl it didn’t happen this way at all.
Our dentist noticed her “loose” tooth well over a year ago – but it never really wiggled, it just barely moved if you intentionally pushed it, hard, with your fingernail. After 12 months of barely moving the “big girl tooth” (Yikes, is she really old enough to possess anything officially called “permanent?”) grew in behind her baby tooth several weeks ago. We called the dentist and were assured that as long as the baby tooth wiggled, even just a little, it should come out on it’s own. Well the first week went by, then the second, and then the third. The tooth would wiggle, but still just barely, and it seemed to be getting less “wiggle-able” so I braced myself for a visit to the dentist and wrote “call pedi-dentist” on my to-do list. Well, thanks to my incurable procrastination I didn’t call that day, or the next, or the day after that. 
On Wednesday I heard a quiet, “my tooth is loose . . . my tooth fell out” from upstairs during the kids’ resting time. The story she told me is that she pulled her skirt out of her mouth (for some reason I never bothered to ask why the skirt was in her mouth in the first place) and it simply fell out – no fuss.
Well, as you can imagine, resting time was completely over. She danced around her room trying to figure out exactly what she should do with her new treasure. Ultimately she decided to wrap it in her favorite handkerchief (a hand-me-down from my grandmother – I’ll try to remember to write about her adorable fascination with hankies another time) and put it in her jewelry box until Daddy got home. She insisted that it was a big secret, and we could not call Daddy – she wanted to tell him in person.
That night she happily tucked it under her pillow and received in exchange a silver dollar and a chocolate coin.
Now I am stuck with a new dilemma – what do normal people do with lost teeth? It seems like such a momentous occasion in her life that throwing it into the trash seems somehow disrespectful. On the other hand, I have enough clutter already and saving a box full of teeth is simply odd. Any suggestions?
Oh, by the way – her big girl tooth is already slowly moving forward to take the place of the tooth that fell out. No visit to the dentist needed.
Little Ali is so big. I am amazed how quickly they grow. I am so happy that things turned out the easy way…it made it such a fun experience. Thanks for sharing another cute story of your family life. Give Ali a kiss for me and tell her congrats!
PS: I have heard of people putting envelopes in their scrapbook for baby teeth. I have seen boxes you can buy for them and other little keepsake items. But now I guess it is a choice if you really are going to keep it forever, or what you would like to do. Tough choice….its hard being a mom! :)I don’t think she will hate you if you throw it away. I don’t have any of my baby teeth and I still have a good relationship with Mom and no resentment about it! :)
You could always save her first tooth (in an envelope)as it is special. I still have my 1st tooth I lost in my baby book. As for the rest – I'd probably throw them away but I guess if your child is a sentimental (and likes to keep things) you can save them until she's older and let her choose to keep or throw them away.
Good luck with the decision & Merry Christmas.