What do I do?
My daughter came home from her dad's house yesterday, giggling with glee. "MOM! I lost my other toof!" Running toward me, holding up a Ziploc baggie with appeared to be a small corn niblet inside, she ponders loudly the possible worth of the thing to the Tooth Fairy. Then off she goes, showing her even-gummier smile to anyone within earshot.
Fast forward to 5:30 a.m., soft sighs of slumber slip from Syd's room as I exit, having just secretly purchased her top, front tooth. Examining the tiny bit of ivory, I recall the joy of its appearance in our lives and the many happy memories since its arrival, blah blah blah lovingly place the tiny gem in a keepsake box blah blah blah WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THIS THING?
...and that's where my adoration and musing ends. I stare at the various cardboard ring boxes in my top drawer, two of which hold my older boys' baby teeth. And now I have Sydney's piling up in a little box of her own. I have, quite literally, a drawer full of teeth, all of them real, none of the mine. If someday I decide I want to make a statue using discarded human remains, I'm set, mouth-wise. But until then... Some people collect silver spoons. Or shot glasses. I like to go with things that are a little more organic.
Honestly, I had no idea what people did with these things. I mean, throwing away part of my child's body just feels weird. But hanging on to a little box filled with their DNA feels equally strange.
So I started asking other parents what they did with the things.
Responses?
"Tossed them out."
"Buried them in the ground."
"Kept the first one, and discarded the rest."
None of these feel quite right either, though I do like the burying idea.
Mostly, I'd like to hear what you other moms have to say: What did you do with your child's baby teeth?
Perpetually anxious/simultaneously exhausted mom of a blended family of 7 kids & 2 pets. Writer about same. Wife to one amazingly patient husband. Drinker of wine. 




