What do most parents do when they don’t know what to say at a given moment to their child? THEY MAKE SOMETHING UP!! And that, my friends, is how Callie ended up with her “unicorn” tooth.
It was a lazy Sunday afternoon when Callie first brought to my attention that her front tooth was hurting. Now I heard through the parenting grapevine that a child normally loses their first tooth around ages 5-7, but at age 3 for a child who flosses every night and brushes normally?? Geez!! Turns out she was secretly growing an extra tooth, more like a tooth nub, BEHIND her front two teeth! (Yes, I too had a WTF reaction) After some reluctant Googling, it turns out her tooth nub has a medical name-mesioden! It’s a supernumerary – or extra- tooth that often grows behind the two top front teeth. Apparently this happens to less than 4% of people and the cause is still really up in the air. It can be because of extra tissue that forms into teeth (ugh), hereditary (nope, none in our family history), a fluke, etc.
Whatever you want to call it, I didn’t want Callie to feel weird or freakish so I did what all good parents do…I straight up lied and called it a unicorn tooth. Sounds magical enough, right? Apparently I made it sound so magical that Austin was bummed for not having one himself! Whenever he would ask how come Callie had one and not him, she would say, “Because you’re not special like me!” haha. Mission accomplished.
So the day comes and we head out to the dentist. Callie’s nub is looking more like a cute chunky fang now. She still feels very special about it, but knows it has to be taken out or else it’ll mess up her teeth alignment in the future. Up to this point, the kids really had no fear of the dental office. Sure they’ve had cleanings, but they always leave the place feeling like a million bucks with all the stickers, lollipops, and non-stop “you’re so cute” compliments.
Guys, the whole procedure took 5 minutes! The only time Callie cried was when the dentist injected her with anesthesia and that was for about 30 seconds. I kept holding her hand with my left and brushing her hair back with my right. All I could say to her was “Imagine all the ice cream you get to eat after this!” in hopes of her focusing on a prize. I soon felt a cough coming up so I turned around to let it out. When I turned back over, the dentist was holding the unicorn tooth with a look of disappointment on her face. “You just missed it,” she said. Ugh, just my luck…
Within minutes Callie was given her tooth in a cute pink tooth-shaped container. As she opened it, her eyes grew with excitement as she could finally see and hold her very own special unicorn tooth. The irony is that it actually looked like a unicorn’s horn!
Later that night I asked if she wanted to put her tooth under the pillow for the tooth fairy. She quickly responded with, “Why Mommy? I want to keep my magic for myself!” So there you have it ladies and gents. A parent’s lie that actually didn’t bite them in ass later. The end.
Cheers,
THM
Comments (32)
Such a brave girl! I love how you turned a scary situation into something that was cool and unique for her. Momma props!
Thanks Amanda! It’s funny because as the kids grow older, I always feel they’ll catch on to my lies sooner! Luckily that wasn’t the case for this! hahaha
This is the best thing I’ve read in a while! YES! WE DO MAKE THINGS UP AS PARENTS! This is so easy to relate to. Thanks for the laugh!
Thanks Brittney! Love that compliment! That’s mom life for ya!
She is a brave girl! and you are really creative hehe I love the case for the tooth and the stickers ♥
Thanks V! I wouldn’t say I’m creative, but when you’re put on the spot you do what you have to do! Thanks for swinging by for a read!
Haha, such a cute story! Great work, mom! I like how special she thought that it was, and it sounds like the dentist trip went smooth. Total win!
Thanks Leighann! I’m still in shock with how smooth it went!
Wow that’s incredible! That tooth case is so amazing and that will always be a great conversation piece!
Thanks Brittany! She wants to turn it into a necklace!
You gave her that magic! That’s awesome! And she is so stinking cute by the way.
Awww thanks Becca for enjoying the post and for essentially complimenting my genes 🙂
I loved reading this! She probably would have freaked out if you told her she had mesioden (that word sounds scary) so that was great that you made it into something magical.
Yeah, I can’t think of a single medical term that doesn’t sound intimidating or concerning!
What a brave girl!! and you’re such an awesome mama for giving it such a cool name. my 3 year old would have been so excited haha.
Thanks Arin! When in doubt, Unicorn it! haha
Seriously, this was mom goals right here! It’s so wonderful how well she did with this, and you, my friend, get all the props! Doin’ it right!
Thank you for the mad props, Tiff! Love, President of the Liar’s Association haha
Well done Mumma for turning something that could have been traumatic for your daughter into something fun! I like the name too “unicorn tooth” – all the kids are going to want one!
So does that mean Unicorn Veggies might work? haha
That’s incredible. I had no idea this could happen. My favorite was that we didn’t give juice to the kids at bedtime, but my niece got juice. So I would give my daughter “night juice”. It was water. It worked for YEARS. Good job – good luck with all that magic.\
OMG night juice was just water and your daughter bought that for years?!?! You’ve must have made it sound super special!! Do you remember her reaction when she finally realized that it was just water?!?! I’m dying to know Karla!
Love the name unicorn tooth! Good job making it less scary for her! What a brave girl!
Calling it a unicorn tooth surprisingly made it less scary for her AND ME! haha
Absolutely love that you pulled Unicorn Tooth out on the fly!! That is PERFECT!! Nice work mama! The lengths we go to for our kids…
The lengths we go for our kids is sadly only celebrated once a year on Mother’s Day. WE.NEED.MORE.TIME! haha Thanks Angel for swinging by my blog and reading my post!
My daughter has an extra tooth on the bottom, but it grew along with the others, so there are 5 in a row between her canines instead of 4. It is going to get pulled in the next few weeks because, besides being extra, her mouth is very crowded.
That’s great that it’s getting pulled out! One less thing to have to worry about (and monitor!) I’m guessing she’s indifferent about it getting p pulled because it grew with the rest of her teeth in the same row?
I’ve never heard of ths – she is so brave! and kudos Mom, because I wouldnt have known what to say!
Thanks Jasmine! Well if the day should ever come, you know one name to call it! haha Thanks for checking out my blog and reading my post!
I have never heard of this type of tooth before, I am so glad it worked out so well for the both of you!
Me too!! Calling it a unicorn tooth made it less scary for her AND ME surprisingly haha