A few days ago, Phoebe lost her second tooth. That very night, the Tooth Fairy came and collected Phoebe’s tooth from under her pillow, leaving Phoebe a dollar, and a case of pneumonia.
It took us a while to catch on to the second gift, as it was more subtle, and not left in the little pouch under Phoebe’s pillow.
She’d had the weird spike of a fever on Tuesday, but by Wednesday she was fever free, and Thursday she was back at school. She’s had a nagging cough, though, which has beenn making it hard for her to sleep. And it’s been going on for a couple of weeks. By Friday night, John convinced me that we should consult the doctor’s office. I called and got us an appointment yesterday morning, but I admit that I was mostly expecting to be told that Phoebe had a cough. The doctor was able to confirm that Phoebe had a cough, but also heard a crackle in Phoebe’s right lung. So, Phoebe gets to be back on antibiotics.
You may be wondering why I blame the Tooth Fairy. All I can say is that around the time Phoebe lost her first tooth, she caught strep. Coincidence? I think not.
Oh, fine. I admit that I may possibly be scapegoating the Tooth Fairy. The real culprit may well be Phoebe herself:
Phoebe, wiggling her first loose tooth.
Phoebe just can’t seem to resist the urge to feel her wiggly teeth. And then the gap once a tooth falls out. And then the new tooth starting to poke up through the gums. The fingers keep ending up in the mouth.
What worries me is that we have a whole lot of baby teeth left to go. And there are a whole lot of diseases out there that Phoebe has yet to experience.
So what will it be next, Tooth Fairy? Small pox? Anthrax? Tuberculosis? If this keeps up, we may have to figure some sort of anti-fairy security system.
(By they way, Phoebe seems totally fine, other than the cough and that one day with fever, and a bit of tiredness.)
collecting tokens 
Wow. Who knew losing a tooth was so dangerous?! However, I am glad to hear that despite pneumonia, Phoebe is okay. I don’t really blame her for needing to wiggle the loose teeth–I seem to remember that they are pretty irresistible.
I wouldn’t be so quick to abandon your ‘Tooth Fairy as disease vector’ theory. Think of it: that chick is visiting god knows how many children each night and is handling used teeth and money *constantly*. Let’s just hope she got her flu shot this year!
Yes. What GirlWithFlask said. Think of where those teeth have been, not to mention the money.
My daughter was a thumbsucker when she was little and a nailbiter when she stopped sucking her thumb. She’s 14 now. Still bites her nails but has a great immune system.
I never found anything that stopped it. But, once I got a dishwasher, the colds and other crud dropped way off. Not sure if this was cause and effect or not.
My mother had a friend who had a necklace made of her little daughter’s pearly teeth. Now there’s a germ vector.
Fuckin Tooth Fairy…….
I lost track of what tooth fairy is trying to do to you and your child when I saw that adorable picture of Phoebe!
Perhaps dropping a subtle hint for the tooth fairy next time like a bottle of Purell and SARS mask?
Ha! I’ve never caught that particular correlation before. I’d like to see a study on it! :)