All I Want For Christmas...

Joshua popped out of his room yesterday morning and asked,

"Mom? Can you pull out my tooth?"

I shuddered.

"No, Josh," I said, backing away. "Mommy is really queasy right now...Daddy will do it when he gets home."

He then proceeded to follow me around wiggling his tooth.

Yesterday evening, after Jeremy arrived, I asked Josh, "Hey, do you want Daddy to pull out your tooth?"

Josh didn't even think about it.

"No, that's okay." Sometimes I hate being the one who my kids come to to get their dirty work done.

Jeremy cheerfully proceeded to explain the joys of losing teeth to Josh, which I will have to remind him not to do at the dinner table when my mouth is full of spaghetti.

"Josh!" He exclaimed. "If I pull your tooth out, the tooth fairy will come and leave you MONEY!"

Few things capture Josh's imagination, and I knew this would spark his 6-year-old fancy. I watched as his eyes grew huge, and a smile spread across his face.

"DAD! CAN YOU PULL MY TOOTH OUT?!?!?!?" He tried to help it along. *wiggle wiggle* Ew...

We had to keep telling Joshua to sit, and that he would have to wait 'till after dinner, violin lesson, and decorating of the Christmas tree before Daddy could yank out a piece of his skull.

Then we all completely forgot about it.

About two hours after Joshua went to bed, he knocked on his door and said, "Daddy, can you pull my tooth out?"

Jeremy replied, "No, you can't have any pizza..."

"But I waannnnnntttt to!!" Came his heartbroken response.

"Don't be mean, Jeremy!" I said, punching his arm.

"What?? I didn't understand what he said!"

He then opened Josh's door and led him to the bathroom.

"Okay, Josh, come 'ere...hold still..."

"AHHHGGGG!"

"Opps, sorry...Hang on, it's almost done!"

There was a few moments of silence, and then the kitchen filled with Joshua's muffled, nervous laughter.

I turned around and his mouth was full of toilet paper, but not enough to cover up the huge grin on his face.

"Are you okay, buddy?"

"Yeahwww," he said, his eyes gleaming.

"Keep the toilet paper in there for a little while, Josh, until the bleeding stops."

After a few minutes, Joshua chucked the toilet paper in the trash.

This time Jeremy asked, "Are you okay? Is it still bleeding?"

Josh picked some toilet paper off his tongue, and said,

"Ith okay..."

Ha ha ha!

"Hey, Josh, come here a second," I said, barely containing my giggle. "Say, 'This is my name.'"

He hesitated.

"Oh, come on! Say, 'This is my name.'" I looked at him expectantly.

Shyly he said, "Thith ith my name..."

Ha ha ha!

After a few moments, it was time to send him back to bed. As he walked to his room he said,

"Now I am happy..."

Oh, that boy...