The Tooth Fairy Falls Asleep on the Job

Last night, after an agonizingly long time, Veronica' front right tooth finally came out! This is the 4th tooth she has lost for those of you scoring at home. (Her first was the lower right central incisor; followed by the lower left central incisor, which she had pulled at her first dentist's visit because it was loose; then came her lower left lateral incisor, which fell out a few weeks ago during dinner--she spit it out on the table.) For the record, her upper left central incisor as well as her lower right lateral incisor are both loose. Anyway, this tooth that just came out had been loose for at least a month. Veronica had wiggled it a lot one day, leaving it hanging by a thread, but then refused to pull it out or let one of us do it. I noticed that the new tooth was starting to come in under the part that had already been pulled away, so after much coaxing and bribing (yes, a chocolate chip cookie was involved), Veronica finally consented to let David pull the tooth out. I held Veronica's hands down as David wrapped dental floss around the tooth and with one big yank, the tooth popped out. Now, Veronica has a big gap as shown in the picture and talks a little funny sometimes. So, now that the tooth was finally out, Veronica combined it with her two other teeth that had recently come out and put them all in an envelope (she had been holding on to the others because she liked to look at them and wasn't ready for the Tooth Fairy to take them yet). Then she put the envelope under her pillow for the Tooth Fairy. When Veronica woke up this morning she was disappointed that the Tooth Fairy had taken her teeth, but hadn't left any money. I told her to take another look because I was sure that the Tooth Fairy wouldn't take her teeth without leaving anything. Just then, Harrison came running out the bedroom holding a dollar saying, "Look what I found in my bed!" He was very excited that someone had left him a dollar in his bed! Veronica immediately realized that it must be hers, and of course, a little sibling dispute ensued. I told Harrison that I was pretty sure that the Tooth Fairy had meant to leave that dollar for Veronica and it probably just fell into his bed by accident (his bed is directly below Veronica's--she's in a loft and he's on the floor). He wasn't convinced. Finally Veronica told Harrison that she had lots of dollars in her piggy bank and that she would share one of those with him if he gave her that dollar. He agreed to that and they went peacefully back to their room. I don't know if Veronica gave him a dollar or not, but someone left a dollar on the kitchen table--I just assumed it was a tip for me--maybe not! Maybe we need to write a letter to the Tooth Fairy to make sure she does a better job of placing the money under the pillow next time!