Bob the dog and the missing tooth

Bob the dog and the missing tooth

By Allan Olson

Poor Bob. We got Bob, our family dog, back in March, and since then he has consistently proven that he is a big baby. Sometimes it seems that he is afraid of everything – especially the dark.

When nighttime comes, he can usually be found waiting at the back door, anxious to be let into his little room. If he’s not let in, he expresses his displeasure by giving a little bark. We laugh at him and then someone lets him.

When we went camping earlier this summer, he joined us on both occasions. The first was at my brother’s house for a family reunion. He enjoyed having the room to roam and other dogs to play with. At bedtime, it was the same routine. He wanted to be with us – in the tent. We were a little concerned that maybe his paws might rip up the tent a little, but after the first night we had nothing to worry about. He slept like a rock – just like the kids. He also cruised the tent in his sleep, again – just like the kids.

The second camping trip wasn’t as much fun for him. We left him tied to a tree a good share of the time, due to all the little dogs in the area and the preparations for the wedding. At bedtime, he was in the tent sleeping before any of the kids.

Our tent has two doors – one on the kids’ side and one on the parents’ side. Bob thought he qualified as a kid, and so would only use that side of the tent.

This past weekend, we headed out of town for a wedding and left him behind. Home alone. He had ample food and water, and someone came to check on him once, but he had to sleep outside – in the dark – by himself. It was truly a new experience. He had only slept outside once before – and that was by accident when I thought Nikolai had let him in, and not knowing that Bob didn’t want to come in at that time, I went to bed, so he slept outside.

Upon our arrival back home late Sunday evening in the rain, Bob dashed out of the garage to greet us. Talk about excitement! I opened the van door and he nearly jumped in my lap, overcome with emotion that we had finally returned home. On Monday night I noticed that he had rewarded us during our absence by digging a few more holes in the yard that will need to be filled.

Tooth Fairy

The tooth fairy has been busy at our house. Abigail has lost several teeth, and Marcus is disappointed that his twin has lost more than he has. A few weeks back Abigail lost a tooth, and she was carrying it around in a container. Soon she came crying that she had lost it in the sink.

“Too bad,” I said. “I’m not taking any sink apart to find your tooth.” That led to more sobs and tears streaming down the face. I wasn’t moved – I had no desire to look for her little lost tooth in the sink.

“It’s not that hard to take it apart,” my wife said.

My thought was, taking it apart would be hard – and it was quite possible that I would break something.

So my wife, ever the loving mother – took the sink apart in the kids’ bathroom downstairs.

“It’s not in that sink,” Abigail said between sobs, after her mom had already taken it apart. I guess nobody thought to ask which sink she lost it in.

After the basement sink was put back together, mom came upstairs to our bathroom and took that sink apart – and recovered the lost tooth.

“Mommy found my tooth,” said a very pleased Abigail.

For a good portion of the evening, she carried that tooth around in a cup shaking it around and listening to it rattle. A while later, she came upstairs, minus the cup.

“Where’s the tooth?” I asked.

“I don’t know, I lost it,” she replied.

So apparently it was okay to lose it, as long as it wasn’t in the sink!

Please be safe on the lakes. Wear your life jacket, keep the kids safe, and remember to take a picture to preserve a lifetime of memories.

Thanks for reading, and have a great week! For more of my columns visit: http://allan-crazykids.blogspot.com.