The Toofh Fairy.....
A little while ago I wrote about Katie's first ever wobbly tooth. It's been quite the event in our house for around 6 weeks or so. The tooth slowly became more and more wobbly but wasn't showing any signs of wanting to budge out of her mouth (no matter how much tongue action was involved).
So a few weeks ago Daddy and I had a night out planned. You can count on one hand how many times we've been out together since we first adopted Katie so this is a big deal for us. We were going out for a meal with some friends to celebrate a 40th birthday. Katie was very excited because she was going to my Sister's for her second ever sleepover. We are incredibly protective of Katie so she doesn't do sleepovers as a rule. Excitement was high. Katie was excited at the prospect of a sleepover and Daddy and I were excited about having a grown up meal in an actual restaurant! I should just mention here that last time Katie slept at my Sister's house not much sleep actually ensued. Katie doesn't do change particularly well (we have this in hotel rooms and on holiday etc). Last time she wouldn't sleep until gone 10pm and was wide awake again by 4.30am. Pretty much the same thing happened this time so we've decided that Katie won't be doing any more sleepovers until she is older.
There were mitigating circumstances this time, to be fair, because something dramatic happened......Wobblegate. Wobblegate sounded quite traumatic in the blow by blow account I received from all parties involved the next day and in the frantic phone message I finally received later that evening when I got a phone signal.
Katie decided she couldn't go to sleep because she was worried her tooth would come out in the night and she would swallow it. Hysteria set in. Daddy and I were unreachable due to a dodgy phone signal in the lovely Thai restaurant that we were having a pretty delicious meal. Auntie BB had to decide how best to resolve the issue. Facebook enabled her to contact one of my best friends. After many tears were shed because Mummy wasn't there and several hours of anxiety, the tooth finally came out. Phew! The event sounds worthy of an episode of Casualty! I'm sure the defibrillator was standing by just in case (or was that for Auntie BB?).
Of course upon hearing all of the above I was anxious and pretty gutted that I couldn't be there for her and that I missed her first tooth coming out. Firsts are so important for adopters because we miss out on so many of the firsts. I didn't hear Katie's first word; or see her first tooth or first step. There are some important things that I missed out on and being involved is very important to me (I'll write about the school disco another time). I felt like the worst Mum on earth. There was I having a wonderful time whilst my daughter was in distress (Raises right hand to forehead.....I should have been on the stage - oh I was for a while so that might explain my performance!). I have now gained some perspective on the whole thing, particularly as other adopter friends have told me similar things have happened to them (usually with teeth coming out at school or actually being swallowed). I'm still a bit sad but we've moved on (being approved at Panel and visiting Euro Disney helped with that).
Katie wouldn't allow Auntie BB to put the tooth under her pillow for the Tooth Fairy. She was too scared about the Tooth Fairy so the tooth came home, wrapped in tissue, for a proper send off. It was so tiny. Barely there. So cute.
Even at home Katie didn't want to put the tooth under her pillow so we thought a bit about why this might be. To be honest it is a scary prospect to think that a fairy is going to come into your house and into your bedroom and ferret around under your pillow. Katie doesn't have any particular reason that I know of in her history that might exacerbate this fear but I could see where she was coming from so we put our thinking caps on and decided to try something we had used before with the Nunga Nunga Fairy (Dummy Fairy). We put the tooth in a little box and hung it in a gift bag on the back door with a note for the Toofh (Katie's spelling) Fairy. Katie felt that this was something she could handle. We reassured her that the Toofh Fairy wouldn't come into her bedroom by me writing an envelope telling the Toofh Fairy where to go when she arrived. Of course we could have just down played the whole thing and not involved any fairies but fairies are a big part of our lives in the Katie household. We particularly love the Parking Fairy. She is amazing and very reliable!
The next morning a very excited Katie awoke and rushed into our bedroom asking to go downstairs to check inside the bag. We sprinted down with her and watched her discover a shiny £2 coin (for a first tooth, the price goes down to £1 for subsequent teeth - OK the truth is that I didn't have a pound coin so it had to be a £2 coin).
The tooth next to this one is now wobbly. Let's hope the next one is a) less traumatic and b) comes out with Mummy and Daddy at home.
Is that asking for too much I wonder?
No swallowing it at school Katie......
PLEASE.........
So a few weeks ago Daddy and I had a night out planned. You can count on one hand how many times we've been out together since we first adopted Katie so this is a big deal for us. We were going out for a meal with some friends to celebrate a 40th birthday. Katie was very excited because she was going to my Sister's for her second ever sleepover. We are incredibly protective of Katie so she doesn't do sleepovers as a rule. Excitement was high. Katie was excited at the prospect of a sleepover and Daddy and I were excited about having a grown up meal in an actual restaurant! I should just mention here that last time Katie slept at my Sister's house not much sleep actually ensued. Katie doesn't do change particularly well (we have this in hotel rooms and on holiday etc). Last time she wouldn't sleep until gone 10pm and was wide awake again by 4.30am. Pretty much the same thing happened this time so we've decided that Katie won't be doing any more sleepovers until she is older.
There were mitigating circumstances this time, to be fair, because something dramatic happened......Wobblegate. Wobblegate sounded quite traumatic in the blow by blow account I received from all parties involved the next day and in the frantic phone message I finally received later that evening when I got a phone signal.Katie decided she couldn't go to sleep because she was worried her tooth would come out in the night and she would swallow it. Hysteria set in. Daddy and I were unreachable due to a dodgy phone signal in the lovely Thai restaurant that we were having a pretty delicious meal. Auntie BB had to decide how best to resolve the issue. Facebook enabled her to contact one of my best friends. After many tears were shed because Mummy wasn't there and several hours of anxiety, the tooth finally came out. Phew! The event sounds worthy of an episode of Casualty! I'm sure the defibrillator was standing by just in case (or was that for Auntie BB?).
Of course upon hearing all of the above I was anxious and pretty gutted that I couldn't be there for her and that I missed her first tooth coming out. Firsts are so important for adopters because we miss out on so many of the firsts. I didn't hear Katie's first word; or see her first tooth or first step. There are some important things that I missed out on and being involved is very important to me (I'll write about the school disco another time). I felt like the worst Mum on earth. There was I having a wonderful time whilst my daughter was in distress (Raises right hand to forehead.....I should have been on the stage - oh I was for a while so that might explain my performance!). I have now gained some perspective on the whole thing, particularly as other adopter friends have told me similar things have happened to them (usually with teeth coming out at school or actually being swallowed). I'm still a bit sad but we've moved on (being approved at Panel and visiting Euro Disney helped with that).Even at home Katie didn't want to put the tooth under her pillow so we thought a bit about why this might be. To be honest it is a scary prospect to think that a fairy is going to come into your house and into your bedroom and ferret around under your pillow. Katie doesn't have any particular reason that I know of in her history that might exacerbate this fear but I could see where she was coming from so we put our thinking caps on and decided to try something we had used before with the Nunga Nunga Fairy (Dummy Fairy). We put the tooth in a little box and hung it in a gift bag on the back door with a note for the Toofh (Katie's spelling) Fairy. Katie felt that this was something she could handle. We reassured her that the Toofh Fairy wouldn't come into her bedroom by me writing an envelope telling the Toofh Fairy where to go when she arrived. Of course we could have just down played the whole thing and not involved any fairies but fairies are a big part of our lives in the Katie household. We particularly love the Parking Fairy. She is amazing and very reliable!
The next morning a very excited Katie awoke and rushed into our bedroom asking to go downstairs to check inside the bag. We sprinted down with her and watched her discover a shiny £2 coin (for a first tooth, the price goes down to £1 for subsequent teeth - OK the truth is that I didn't have a pound coin so it had to be a £2 coin).The tooth next to this one is now wobbly. Let's hope the next one is a) less traumatic and b) comes out with Mummy and Daddy at home.
Is that asking for too much I wonder?
No swallowing it at school Katie......
PLEASE.........
Once one starts to wobbly they all do in my experience. We once had three in week. I can only imagine how you felt when you finally got your message about the tooth, upset no doubt but on the plus side at least you got to finish your meal. I hope all goes well with the next wobbly one and what a great idea to put the tooth downstairs much easier for the tooth fairy as well.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to the next one soon then Sarah. Yes I think downstairs is a much better idea. We are very pro fairies in our family so I don't want to introduce any anxiety. It makes it more of an event as well which is really lovely. Katie really enjoys it (which is rather the point isn't it?).
DeleteI must say it was a lovely meal!! I am a teensy bit glad that I didn't have to be stressed whilst eating it! ;)
Such a shame you missed it! You're right, our firsts are extra special, but it's lovely that you shared the leaving of the tooth with her, rather than her auntie.
ReplyDeleteWe've had 4 wobblers at once, and currently the two bottom ones are out and new 'too big for his mouth' teeth are coming up quickly.
Great idea to leave the tooth downstairs, I'm sure the tooth fairy appreciated it.
Thanks for linking with the Weekly Adoption Shout Out x
Ooooh four teeth at once? That's almost a remortgage scenario these days!! LOL The new teeth always look far too big for their tiny mouths don't they? How does Mini handle it all?
DeleteHandling their fears well is so crucial, this sounds bang on! The best protection can be a gentle reduction which increases over time, rather than trying to eliminate something completely.
ReplyDeleteWe have a parking fairy too - they are awesome! Mx
Thank you Mumdrah!! I'm a big fan of facing fears and minimising them where possible (very Harry Potter!).
DeleteWe have a rhyme we say for the parking Fairy which works a treat! x
see I was goona write about how great the idea is of the toofh fairy coming to the back door and now all i want to know having scrolled through all the comments - is tell me about the parking fairy, please?
ReplyDelete