On Friday afternoon, I was busy trying to get a few things done around the house and from the kitchen, I could hear the kids fighting in the other room.  Since this is a fairly normal (as in frequent) occurrence around here, I kept on working with an ear tuned into the chaos in the other room.  Then, there was a break in the noise.  I lifted my head in time to see Martin walking toward me, hand held to his face.  "MOM!  I LOST A TOOTH!"  He moved his hand to reveal a little gaping space in his big beaming smile.



The good news was that the tooth came out without much pain, the actual yanking done by Sophie as she pulled her pillow out of Martin's mouth, the tooth going along for the ride.  The bad news was that the tooth was really lost, as in WE COULD NOT FIND IT.

For almost two hours we searched the family room for the missing tooth.  I looked between the cushions of the couch.  I felt along the floor, cursing the choice of beige berber that was chosen for it's hiding properties.  I looked ALL OVER.  And finally, we gave up.  Martin and I sat down at the counter so that he could write a letter to the Tooth Fairy explaining his situation. He had much to say, but it was a lot of writing for a guy just learning to write.  In the end, he managed to get all the important parts in there, only leaving out the part about Sophie ripping it out of his mouth.