About a week ago Grace lost her 1st tooth. We’ve waited quite a long time for this
monumental event. She was six already
and that darn tooth had been loose for weeks.
Plus, her 2 front bottom permanent teeth had already come completely up
behind the baby teeth so she was starting to look like a shark.
But alas, out it came one night just before bedtime, with
a small yank from Mama. There was a little bit of blood, a small
amount of trauma, and then Grace suddenly remembered losing teeth comes with a
payoff.
Now even though we don’t believe in the Tooth Fairy, the
Easter Bunny or Santa Claus (You might remember my views on Santa from this earlier post.), Leprechauns, or The Elf on the Shelf, Grace is a very pragmatic girl. She is not going to be cheated out of presents or surprises just because we don't celebrate fairytale characters like other families. She lost a tooth so she was fully expecting a present under her pillow.
And not money, a present! Grace doesn't place much value on money yet, but she loves surprises. So I needed an actual gift to put under her pillow. I started to panic! It was 9pm. I was getting ready to put Grace to bed and I was already in my PJ's, too. Where was I going to get a gift. Then I remembered my secret stash of China gifts. When we traveled to China to bring Grace home we brought back 18 years worth of little presents to give her each year. Some little toys, some clothes, and some more sentimental like a string of pearls for her wedding day. We were going to give them to her on each Gotcha Day, but Gotcha Day turned out to be Christmas Eve, which was too close to the frenzy of Christmas gift giving. Plus the whole idea of Gotcha seemed a little weird after awhile (but that's a subject for another day). So anyway, a China gift seemed the perfect way to commemorate this 1st tooth loss.
I snuck in after she fell asleep, slid the surprise under the pillow, and looked forward to morning. When she woke up she immediately reached under her pillow for this:
A sweet little China Girl puppet for my sweet China Girl! So how many more teeth do I have to go? I better start planning ahead!
