The Tooth Fairy probably isn't coming this time
Once upon a time as little children (a long time ago for some of us) we learned some interesting things based upon what we were told by other people. For instance, by word of mouth, our siblings, neighborhood playmates, and even our parents taught us that when we lost a baby tooth we should place t it under our pillow when we went to bed at night. We were told that sometime while we were sound asleep with our head upon the pillow the Tooth Fairy would magically take that little tooth we no longer needed and give us some money for it!
As a little boy and a faithful follower of this instruction, I quickly discovered that in my house the going rate for a baby tooth was ten cents. Curiously, my mother who seemed to know everything was never able to explain why the value of a tooth that fell out of the mouth of a little boy or girl varied from a nickel to a dollar in different families. Mother probably didn't realize that my young friends and I discussed these important financial matters from time to time when one of us actually lost a tooth. She also seemed to be at a loss to provide any insight as to what the Tooth Fairy does with all of the baby teeth that have been collected through the years. There must be a huge pile of these things somewhere!
I must confess that our own eight children received this same instruction about the Tooth Fairy when they were growing up as well. From the Lindsay Family Children's Storybook, a collection of approximately 150 true stories written about the things our sons and daughters said and did while they were busy growing into adults, there is a documented instance recorded when our daughter Melanie thought that the Tooth Fairy had visited her father.
I left early one morning on a business trip long before dawn and on my way out the door placed my loose change on the bed so my sleeping wife could use it for our children's milk money at school when she awakened. She pushed the money under my pillow, so the children wouldn't accidentally knock it on the floor. Sometime after I was gone, our young daughter came into the room and climbed into the available empty space in the bed next to her mother. While adjusting the pillow, she discovered the coins and asked her mother, "Did Daddy lose some of his teeth?"
As adults we still sometimes lose a tooth, but somehow it isn't the same as it was when we were innocent children. My dentist has told me for a number of years that I have a particular tooth with an internal crack that will one day cause that tooth to break. Well, that day arrived a few weeks ago. While we are away from home serving our mission for the Church, we can't go home to have my dentist take care of the problem; however, one of the counselors in our bishopric is about to graduate from the University of Maryland Dental School here in Baltimore.
He is going to repair the broken tooth with a crown while being mentored by one of his professors who will supervise the procedure. I'm sure that I will be in good hands and that all will be well. It is a blessing to know that the Lord provides what is needed for His missionaries while they are in His service. The Tooth Fairy, however, probably isn't coming this time.
I left early one morning on a business trip long before dawn and on my way out the door placed my loose change on the bed so my sleeping wife could use it for our children's milk money at school when she awakened. She pushed the money under my pillow, so the children wouldn't accidentally knock it on the floor. Sometime after I was gone, our young daughter came into the room and climbed into the available empty space in the bed next to her mother. While adjusting the pillow, she discovered the coins and asked her mother, "Did Daddy lose some of his teeth?"
As adults we still sometimes lose a tooth, but somehow it isn't the same as it was when we were innocent children. My dentist has told me for a number of years that I have a particular tooth with an internal crack that will one day cause that tooth to break. Well, that day arrived a few weeks ago. While we are away from home serving our mission for the Church, we can't go home to have my dentist take care of the problem; however, one of the counselors in our bishopric is about to graduate from the University of Maryland Dental School here in Baltimore.
He is going to repair the broken tooth with a crown while being mentored by one of his professors who will supervise the procedure. I'm sure that I will be in good hands and that all will be well. It is a blessing to know that the Lord provides what is needed for His missionaries while they are in His service. The Tooth Fairy, however, probably isn't coming this time.
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