When either one of those two front teeth falls out—or in our case, gets pulled out by Dr. Shane the Orthodontist/good friend to have around—all of a sudden said child becomes a different person, older somehow. I swear, every time I look at Isabella and see this giant gap in her smile, all I notice is that the very last wee bit of my baby is gone. Those two front baby teeth are so cute and chicklet-like and the new teeth that replace them are always uncomfortably too big for a child’s face—these touristy ADULT teeth, hanging out in my baby’s mouth.

All of this is to say that my second grader woke up on saturday morning with one more tooth than she went to bed with. She carefully placed her tooth in a ziploc bag—”so LouLou doesn’t lose it, Mama”—and left a note for her beloved fairy, asking, nay begging, to be able to keep this monumental rite of passage.

Why do kids want to keep teeth? Teeth, especially when sitting there in the palm of one’s hand, are kind of icky. 

Bright and early on Sunday morning, I had a very unhappy camper standing beside my bed.

“LouLou didn’t come.”

Oh shit. 

“Oh baby, maybe LouLou was sick.”

“Mama. Don’t you know anything. She’s A FAIRY. She does not get sick.”

“Well, maybe she had a cousin who was sick and she was way too busy sitting beside her in the hospital to come and deliver tooth gifts.”

“Fairies have fairy cousins. That’s how it works.”

“Well, maybe she went on vacation.”

“False. She doesn’t take vacations.”

“Well, maybe she was up too late trying to finish season 3 of Breaking Bad and fell asleep.”

“What are you even talking about Mama?”

“Should we go out and buy you a pony today, baby?”

“I think that’s probably for the best. And after that, we’ll write LouLou a letter and make sure she’s okay…because I’m worried about her.”

“Obviously.”

In case you were wondering, LouLou seems to have bounced back just fine—and left a guilty pile of cash under Isabella’s pillow. And vows to never watch Breaking Bad on nights she has to work.

Over at my fashion site, I’m talking about Fall 2012 Wardrobe Essentials and giving away an amazing necklace from LOFT. I’m also giving away $650 worth of TRAM winter boots for your entire family. (You can’t say I never give you anything!)

Over at Mamapop, I’m talking about the Fall 2012 New Show(down): What Show Gets Canceled First?