MARK MY WORD: DAUGHTER CASHES IN WITH TOOTH FAIRY OVER LOST TEETH

Becca looks like a hockey player these days.

She's missing her two, top front teeth. She couldn't be happier.

When it comes to self-esteem, there's nothing like losing your baby teeth.

She's proud to have that gap in her smile. It means she's growing up.

Becca lost both front teeth in two days. She woke up one morning with a baby tooth dangling from her mouth. She promptly pulled the tooth. Even the sight of a little blood didn't deter her. I couldn't have been prouder.

The next morning, she woke up to find another front tooth barely holding on. She pulled it too, holding it up for me to inspect as if it were some big-game trophy.

When you're 7 years old, losing a tooth is big news, comparable to winning the lottery.

Of course, in many ways, it is like winning the lottery. The tooth fairy is generous these days.

The tooth fairy left her $5 in crisp dollar bills, stacked neatly under her pillow in exchange for the two teeth.

Talk about inflation. When I was a kid, teeth were cheap. The tooth fairy shelled out 10 cents for each of my teeth. Joni says she got a quarter per tooth.

At any rate, teeth didn't rate the big bucks they do today. But then everything in life is more expensive, even those little baby teeth.

It's amazing how the tooth fairy slips in and out without being spotted.

Growing up, Joni always imagined the tooth fairy looked like Tinker Bell with little wispy wings.

I imagined the tooth fairy was a man with winged sandals like the mythical Mercury, the messenger of the gods in Roman times.

My parents have a statue of the guy. Growing up, the statue stood by the black telephone in our living room. I liked that statue. I always figured it would be great to be fleet of foot and pop in and out of houses like some invisible Mercury-tooth fairy.

I never stopped to think about what the tooth fairy did with all those baby teeth. I just knew the tooth fairy could always spare a dime.

The World Book Encyclopedia will tell you that fairies are imaginary creatures, but kids know better. They know the tooth fairy exists.

After all, do you think mom and dad would sneak into their room in the middle of the night, grab the tooth and leave behind hard-earned cash? No way.

At any rate, it's nice to know that the tooth fairy still makes rounds in today's world of computerized, virtual reality.

Becca was thrilled to have the money. She put it in a plastic bag as a way to preserve her good fortune.

Younger daughter Bailey isn't as keen about losing her teeth. Our 3-year-old would rather keep her teeth just now.

These days, she's focused on candy -- not the edible kind, but the virtual kind.

She plays the Candy Land computer game over and over, vanquishing Lord Licorice and saving King Candy. In King Candy's kingdom, life is sweet indeed, particularly when you are adept with the computer mouse.

Joni and I are thrilled with virtual candy. You don't have to worry about a sugar high and it won't rot your teeth.

We don't want the tooth fairy to make any premature visits to our home. After all, even the tooth fairy has to go to the bank now and then for a little cash.

~Mark Bliss is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.