Rookie Tooth Fairy Trouble

Drew came running in to my bedroom last Wednesday to tell me that one of his "tooths" was loose.  I was a little surprised because Drew just turned 5 a month ago, but sure enough, his tooth was pretty loose!  I pulled so many teeth in the seven years I taught first grade that I am practically a dentist, so I felt fairly confident about helping Drew with this developmental milestone.  To me, the key to easy tooth-pulling is to let the tooth get very, very loose - almost falling out on its own - before you try to pull it.  If you try to pull it before it is loose enough, it will be painful.  If you are patient, you can pull it easily, and the child will hardly feel it coming out.  I told Drew to keep wiggling it, and that when it was loose enough, I would pull it, if he wanted me to.He wiggled it all evening on Wednesday and all day on Thursday, and by Thursday night before bed, the tooth was very loose.  Drew agreed to let me pull it, and it popped out easily, with no pain.  We were all quite excited!
Here he is with his new smile!  We can see the new tooth popping through already, so this tooth was definitely ready to come out.

Little baby tooth.  Please try not to be bothered by the crazy pajama shirt and pants combination that Drew is wearing.  He has been dressing himself more lately, and he doesn't always grab matching items (even though they are put away right next to each other in his pajama drawer).

 I had already made Drew a little owl tooth pillow, so I was glad that we were ready.  He put his little tooth in the pocket before bed.

 He was excited about the whole experience and about what the tooth fairy would bring for him that night.

 He went to bed at his normal time on Thursday night, but he got up about an hour later.  We made him go back to bed and told him that the tooth fairy couldn't come until he was asleep.  We heard him singing in his room for a while, and then everything was quiet, so I decided to risk it and go on in. 
When I got into Drew's room, I found him lying upside down in his bed, with his head at the foot of his bed and his feet on his pillow.  He was stirring around, so I grabbed the little owl pillow and ran out with it.  Jim was brushing his teeth in the bathroom, so I took the pillow in to the bathroom to exchange the tooth for money and to tell Jim about my close call.  As I was talking, Jim interrupted to tell me that Drew was behind me.  Sure enough, he had gotten up and come out!  I hid the pillow behind my back, and Jim took Drew back to bed.  I quickly finished putting the money into the pocket and followed the guys into Drew's room.  I put the pillow back while Jim was tucking Drew in, without Drew's noticing.  I was relieved to have that over with and was proud of our teamwork and sneakiness!
The next morning, Drew came out of his room, and he was all upset.  He said that the tooth fairy hadn't come.  I asked him why he said that, and he told me that he had only closed his eyes for a few minutes the night before, and he hadn't seen the tooth fairy's shadow.  I asked if he had checked his pillow, and he hadn't.  I told him to go check to make sure.
Here he is opening the pocket.

 He feels the coins!

 There they are!

 Four quarters (he thinks that coins are more valuable than paper money, so we went with quarters).

I thought that things had gone pretty well for our first time as tooth fairies, all things considered, until later in the day, when Drew asked me why I had been washing his owl pillow in the bathroom sink the night before.  He had seen it after all, even though I had tried to hide it!  He's a little smarty pants - doesn't miss a thing!
Jim talked to the tooth fairy the other day, and she told him that from now on, she wants Drew to put his owl pillow in the hallway outside his door since he was trying to see her this time.  He has agreed to do it that way from now on, so we are hoping for easier tooth fairy visits in the future!