The Tooth Hippo Comes Out of Retirement

That's right. I thought my career as the "tooth hippo" was over. Mildly bored after living for more than 40 years with the tooth fairy myth, I decided that my girls would get money from a "tooth hippo" instead. Why not? Hippos are big, fun-loving animals with prominent teeth and they're related to whales and dolphins. Why couldn't there be a tooth hippo to pay off my daughters for losing their teeth?

And so it went for about seven years of delivering $2 for each tooth. Over time, I got a little careless about it all and sometimes the tooth hippo took two nights to get the job done. But it did get done. Also, my daughters were incredibly slow about getting their adult teeth. Miss Teen RSI still has a tooth descending and she's almost 14. Anyway, I thought the tooth hippo had gone into permanent retirement, but then Miss Tween RSI found an old, unrewarded tooth and reminded me that I was the tooth hippo and that I had a job to do tonight.

Kids are so cynical.

As one can imagine, it was a fiasco. The kid didn't go to bed until after 11 and then she slept right on top of the pillow so I couldn't grab the tooth.

But I did give her the money.

Something tells me that will be the main point.

And now the tooth hippo needs some rest.