Parenting Guru: Can you hear me now, Tooth Fairy?

In the top drawer of my carved mahogany jewelry box, buried amongst the once-trendy necklaces and the lonely single earrings rests a cheap, green plastic container. Once opened, it reveals an unusual treasure: one of my son's baby teeth. He happened upon it a few years ago, when I was sorting through my stuff. "What's that?", he asked in a voice that was showing tell-tell signs of approaching puberty. "That's your 'hospital tooth'," I replied, expecting the phrase to make complete sense to him. His confused look told me otherwise. "Don't you remember the time you lost your tooth and Dad had to take you to the hospital?". I was greeted by a blank stare, followed by a slightly disgusted look when he gazed at the gnarly piece of bone inside. His retort: "Why on earth would you save something like that?"

Our children don't understand, but we moms do. That tooth conjures a fond memory every time I glimpse it. I see my sweet 6 year old, with one front tooth already missing, wiggling away at #2. A veteran of the Tooth Fairy, he was more excited about the dollar placed under his pillow than the tooth actually falling out. Proud as a peacock, he carried that tooth around in his sticky palm all day, not willing to let go of his treasure until bedtime. I think he showed it to everyone we met that day.

Mostly, I recall him snuggling up to me on the couch as we were reading a story together, each syllable now sounding a bit different -- older, somehow. We both fell asleep briefly, until I woke to his panicked voice. "Where's my tooth, Mom?" he asked. We searched frantically, knowing it couldn't have gone far. Finally, frustrated, I said "Where did you have it last?", but his answer was not what I expected. "In my ear," he said tearfully. "Your ear! I fairly shouted, not believing my own ears. "Why would you put your tooth in your ear??" "Because then I wouldn't lose it," he sobbed.

Sure enough, when I turned his head and peeked in, there was tooth # 2 barely visible in his right ear, nestled so tightly that it took an ER visit with a special set of tweezers to remove it. Later that night, after his dad and I tucked our son in bed, we shook our heads in amazement. Just when you think they're too old to worry about, they pull stunts like that. We considered a $5 special tooth fairy rate, but decided against it. Our fear was our little guy might find other (creative) safekeeping places for future teeth. Instead, he awoke the next day to his usual dollar bill and, apparently, forgot all about the incident.

But the tooth fairy never forgot. She has kept that tooth in a special place ever since, right next to her other valuables.

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Boston Irish is actually Maureen O'Brien, a Shine Parenting Guru, mom of twins, and the founder of www.destinationparenting.com. Her musings can also be found on Galtime.com. She is passionate about all things parenting.