Gavin has lost his first tooth. It has been a harrowing experience for him. When he first showed me that his tooth was loose, he was very worried about it. So concerned, in fact, that his eyes filled up with tears at the thought of not having that particular tooth in his mouth anymore. I reassured him that he would get another, bigger better tooth in its place that would last for the rest of his life, as long as he brushes it before bed every night. He still sat there, wiggling his tooth with his finger, quietly fretting and ruminating on what I had told him. Finally he said, his voice cracking with despair, "But if I never get a new tooth, I will be a silly adult!"

To lose a piece of yourself, I guess, is a little scary.  I guess that's why someone came up with the idea of the tooth fairy? She's a great diversion from the trauma of the extraction, but for Gavin that idea only added to his anxiety. When we put him to bed that night, he couldn't shut his eyes. He said he was worried about the Tooth Fairy, how she would get in, what she would look like, etc. I stayed in the room on the bottom bunk that night with Garrett, listening to Gavin toss and turn anxiously above us, constantly checking under his pillow to make sure the tooth was still there, until he finally fell asleep.

At some point in the night the tooth fairy did slink into the room and do her duty. She was so quiet even I missed her appearance. In the morning, I was already up and sitting at my computer when Gavin came out with an unsettled look on his face. He paced back and forth in the office in front of me, as he normally does when he has a deep thought.
Finally I asked him "Did the Tooth Fairy come last night?"
He looked in the direction of his bedroom and nodded, his tongue feeling the blank space on the  front of his grill.
"Did she take your tooth?"
"Yes," he stated with tear filled brown eyes. I hugged him and asked "Well, did she leave anything else under your pillow?"
"Two things," he whispered. "I didn't touch them."
I went into his room and retrieved the objects: A shiny 50 cent piece and a little pink thank you note. I handed them to Gavin and he held them cautiously. Eventually he sat on the couch and read the note, which praised him on the excellent condition of the outgoing tooth, and reminded him that soon he would have a new one to care for. After studying the note and the coin for a while, he simply commented that he "Never saw a penny this big before" and plunked it in his piggy bank, and that was that. Losing a tooth is not as bad as it seems, I guess.