And out comes the tooth

It wasn't quite as bad as I anticipated. Bryce, being ever stubborn and steadfast in his own vision of how it would feel, finally relented and allowed me to carefully remove his first tooth. It had become quite wiggly of late and, well, tonight simply felt like the night.

The initial fight was strong, as he was convinced pain would ensue. However, his sister provided some tough love and told him he'd be fine. When the girls went out to work on homework, Bryce and I had a man-to-preschooler talk. I truly put the salesman in me to work and tried all conceivable angles.

"It won't hurt, I promise", "Let me see just how loose it really is...", "Your sister has had EIGHT teeth removed, surely you can do ONE"... Eventually, after talking a matter of 10 minutes, he caved and said he was willing to give it a try.

Sitting on my lap, I tried unsuccessfully with my first attempt. It was pretty slippery in there, and I told him it must not be in the cards tonight. But I tried again, this time with a kleenex as an aid, and with a quick shift back there was a pop.

I wish I had Holly video recording the moment after it came out. NO tears, just a strangely quiet look. He had no idea if it was out fully and he was supposed to cry or whether I still didn't get it out. When I showed it to him he was in disbelief. I called the girls out to show them.

He smiled at Kari and she couldn't believe he said OK to me. Then Holly saw it and was so proud of her little boy. Just a minute later he was crying hysterically at his new situation.

Finally he calmed down after assurance that a bigger tooth would indeed one day grow in its place and he could rest easy. 30 minutes later he was pretty proud and requested Mommy leave the following note for the Tooth Fairy:

"Dear Tooth Fairy - my Dad took out my tooth and I was really strong. Have fun and good night!" - Bryce Keckler"

Seems like a proper way to end the evening.