Tooth Fairy’s Got a New Client
See how it’s still bloody? He is SO PROUD.
So, yeah. Last night, Lucas lost his first tooth. I know it sounds crazy, but this moment has been lurking in my mind and heart for about two months now. Last month I decided how it would go. I visualized the tooth pillow I wanted to make for him. I imagined having this tooth pillow (a small pillow with a pocket to put the tooth in, so the Tooth Fairy doesn’t have to dig through the pillows and sheets in his bed to find a tiny baby tooth!) ready to hand him as soon as he showed me his gappy smile and his beensy tooth cradled in the palm of his hand.
I didn’t go that way. I admitted to Lucas that I had started this project, but that it wasn’t finished yet. Then I promised that it would be done that night, so that we could put the tooth in the pocket for the Tooth Fairy to find it.
We bundled him off to bed … again. (That’s where he was at 8, wiggling and worrying that tooth right out of his head.)
Then, I pulled out my pillow project and started sewing like mad. Two hours later, I had this:
I had hand-painted the cheesecloth trim with watercolors a month ago. I had felted wool roving onto a wool felt background three weeks ago in the hopes it would look like a "bimulous night, when the sky is like lace." I had needle-felted the fairy last week.
In a mad dash (I’ve never sewn so fast), I felted the curly yarn border onto the face of the pillow, attached my 3-D fairy to the fabric, sewed the moon pocket on with a crappy whip stitch (Ian cut out the moon for me), and stitched the sides together. Then I stuffed the pillow with Border Leicester wool roving and sewed up the last edge. It was after 11 p.m. when I finished.
You can see a little more detail in this picture. She has rainbow hair.
What colors does the Tooth Fairy wear? I pondered this question for several weeks before I decided that she would wear white and pink, in honor of healthy teeth and gums. See what a nutball I am?
Anyway, this morning, Lucas discovered in the pocket of his brand new tooth pillow a $2 bill! (It was all the cash we had in the house!) He was very excited, and says he likes the pillow.
Then we had a big fight about getting dressed for school and he screamed at me, "You know, mom, I’m growing up! I don’t have to do everything you say!"
…
What? You were hoping for a romantic ending to this story?
October 16, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Beautiful.
October 16, 2008 at 4:03 pm
I’m so in awe of you. You’re the mom I want to be when I grow up.
October 16, 2008 at 4:36 pm
The feeling is mutual, dear. You are the PhD I want to be when I grow up.
October 16, 2008 at 5:18 pm
It is gorgeous!
And yes, you *are* a nutball for picking pink and white to represent healthy teeth and gums, but a totally awesome and loveable and admirable nutball. That is some funny shiz. 😛
October 17, 2008 at 8:41 pm
I dunno, I think that’s kind of a romantic comedy ending…
I haven’t had a chance to tell you how much I thrill at the way you respect and celebrate even tiny small things with your children. So many of the rites of passage I went through as a kid were met with impatience, dismissal and eye-rolling, despite how big those experiences loomed in my eyes.
I adore seeing the photos and reading your thoughts and feeling how focused you are on Lucas’ experience of the moment — how you’ll scramble to make a pillow for little teeth.
You are such a wonderful mom. Love you.
October 18, 2008 at 1:15 am
Thank you!
October 18, 2008 at 1:16 am
Thanks, Kitti. 🙂