After Christmas vacation is over, Charles learns that Didi is the last kid in her first-grade class to still have all her baby teeth. When he explains this to his friends, Melinda, Stu, Drew, and Betty share their memories of how they each lost their first tooth. Therefore, when Didi finally feels a tooth coming loose, she and the others try everything to get her loose tooth to come out.
I imagine that Didi's kid brother Ben sounded like Timmy Turner from "The Fairly Odd Parents" when he was a youngster.
As in any other school year, Christmas vacation ended shortly after the New Year 1967 began. Now, Chas could meet up with his friends at Third Street School.
During recess, one of them, Didi, was seated on one of the swings, moping. When he saw this, Chas, as her surrogate big brother, approached her and gently asked, "May I sit next to you?"
"Sure, pull up a swing," said Didi.
As Chas sat on the swing next to Didi's, he asked, "So, what seems to be the trouble, Didi?"
Didi replied, "Oh, Charles, I have a serious situation."
"What do you mean?"
"Look at me. I just turned seven years old, and look at my mouth."
Didi opened her mouth as Chas inspected her teeth, and he said to her, "They're all baby teeth."
"Exactly," Didi lamented. "I'm the last kid in my first-grade class to still have all her baby teeth! That's why I'm so desperate to lose one this year."
Chas looked at Didi and felt sorry for her. He had to tell the rest of his friends about this.
Chas said to Melinda, Stu, Drew, and Betty, "You heard me right: Didi is seven years old and still has all her baby teeth, the last of her first-grade class who hasn't lost a tooth."
"Wow!" said Stu. "I never thought of that."
"Let me tell you from experience," said Betty, "it can take a strong force to knock a tooth out."
"You're telling me," said Chas. "I lost my first tooth on the first day of my first-grade year when I bumped into a fifth grader during recess. And my two front teeth were lost a month later when I fell into a mud puddle while riding my first bike. I spoke with a lisp for months!"
Betty replied, "Yeah… I was also referring to the time I lost my first tooth, back in the summer after kindergarten. Now, I have a big brother named Freddy. He's in fifth grade, and he's a monster! One day he puts Tabasco sauce in my cereal, the next he leaves slimy critters in my bed! Anyway, back when I was six, I noticed that one of my teeth was loose, so I had to hide it from Freddy because I knew that he was gonna pound me if he found out. And as soon as he found out, a few days later, he snuck up on me and said, 'Hey, Betty, wanna fight?' I shook my head, but he punched me in the jaw anyway, and my first loose tooth came out. I got compensation from the Tooth Fairy that night: all of 25 cents."
Then, Stu, her purple-haired classmate, said, "I remember when I lost my first tooth. It was on my sixth birthday. My mom had baked me a special chocolate cake, and as I ate the cake, I felt something hard in my mouth. I searched through my mouth with my tongue, and in the food I had been chewing up, I found it—my first lost tooth, covered with cake crumbs."
Chas' best friend Melinda added, "The first time I lost a tooth happened on Christmas vacation when I was in kindergarten. My mom and dad had organized some winter barnyard games for the neighboring farmers. One of these games I participated in involved holding onto a greased pig for an extended period of time. I held onto the greased pig the longest, but not before ramming into the fence of the pigpen, causing my first loose tooth to fall out."
"Man, and to think I lost my first tooth when I rammed into a wall," Drew commented.
At the end of the school day, Chas, Melinda, and Drew emerged from their fourth-grade classroom, and they were soon joined by Howard, Charlotte, Stu, Betty, and finally Didi, the last of whom was still upset about having no loose teeth.
"Look, Didi," said Chas. "I want you to know that just because you have all your baby teeth doesn't mean you're a baby. I mean, look at me: I still have eight baby teeth left over, and my fourth-grade teacher says I'm mature for my age."
Didi replied, "It's not that, Charles. I'm just upset because all of my classmates keep showing off their tooth gaps. One of them has such a wide gap in his teeth he's speaking with a lisp."
"Been there, done that," said Chas.
"When you're the only first grader who still has all her baby teeth, you'd be desperate too."
And all the kids returned home from school.
The next morning, at the Kropotkin household, Didi awoke from her sleep to find that one of her teeth, a lower incisor, was finally loose.
Excited, she rushed into her parents' bedroom and shook them awake, "Mom! Dad! Wake up!"
Boris and Minka drowsily woke up as Boris yawned, "What's the matter, Didila?"
Didi announced, "I have my very first loose tooth!"
"Why, Didila!" said Minka. "That means it'll fall out soon!"
This was a very exciting thought for first grader Didi Kropotkin.
In the hallways of Third Street School, Chas was heading for his fourth-grade classroom when Didi walked up to him and said, "Hey, Charles, I finally have a loose tooth!"
"Really? That's great, Didi!" cried Chas. "And to think that I have still eight baby teeth!"
Suddenly, Charlotte passed by with her pet cat, which she had brought for show-and-tell, and Chas, being allergic to cats, sneezed so hard his own loose tooth came out.
"Better make that seven," said Chas as he picked up the tooth and pocketed it in his pocket protector. "And in a couple of years, there'll be none left at all. I think the same thing will happen to you by the time you're in junior high."
"Wow!" gasped Didi as she headed for her first-grade classroom.
During the school assembly that day, all the kids from kindergarten through sixth grade gathered to see Principal Solomon, who said, "All right, children, settle down. Now, how many of you have lost a baby tooth?"
Most of the children raised their hand, with the exception of a few kindergartners and Didi the first grader.
"Well, that looks like everyone from first grader upward," said Principal Solomon. "Everyone, that is, except Didi Kropotkin."
"Baby," snickered Drew, much to Didi's embarrassment.
Principal Solomon continued, "Well, it just so happens that we're going to watch a video that will teach us about our teeth."
And as the lights in the auditorium lowered, the film projector started rolling, showing the kids a film about how the Heroic Toothbrush uses his trusty floss lasso to thwart Bad Plaque's plan to destroy the teeth.
At the end of it, a dentist showed up to say, "Between ages four and seven, most children begin to lose their baby teeth."
"Except Kropotkin," sneered Drew as he laughed at Didi.
Poor Didi…
During lunch, Betty showed off the spaces in her teeth, and she said to her friends, "Look at the cool tricks I can do with the space in my teeth!"
And she placed a straw in the tooth gap as she drank her milk through the straw, to the amazement of Chas, Stu, Drew, Melinda, and Didi.
After drinking her milk, she whistled the "Ode to Joy" through her tooth gap.
And finally, she slurped her chocolate pudding from the spoon through her tooth gap into her mouth.
Everyone was amazed at all the tricks Betty could do with her tooth gaps.
After lunch, Betty, seeing that Chas, Melinda, Stu, and Drew all had tooth gaps, announced, "Okay! Squirting contest! Go!"
And Chas, Betty, Melinda, Stu, and Drew, each took a drink of water from the water fountain and squirted the water from their mouths through their tooth gaps.
As Didi saw this, she felt left out. Chas, Stu, Betty, and Melinda were all concerned for her, but Drew wasn't. He said to the others mockingly, "Do any of you guys have a bib for the baby girl?"
That night, at home, Boris and Minka served Didi a special dinner for her loose tooth.
"Here, you are," said Boris, "well-done beef steak, corn on the cob…"
"And for dessert," added Minka, "peanut brittle and crunchy cookies."
Didi ate up her dinner, with her parents and her kid brother Ben watching, but as soon as she was finished, her tooth still wouldn't come out.
"It's still there," she moaned.
Ben then said to Didi, "You know, Didi, you could get rid of that tooth by chewing bubble gum all the time. That's how a friend of mine lost his first tooth."
This gave Didi an idea…
So, the next day, Chas, Melinda, Stu, Betty, and Drew saw Didi walk down the hallways chewing bubble gum.
"Well, if it isn't Baby Kropotkin!" shouted Drew, to the chagrin of the others. "What'cha eatin'? Baby food?"
And Drew laughed so hard that Chas, Melinda, Stu, and Betty had to shush him.
Didi replied, "Nope, I'm chewing bubble gum. I hope that my tooth will stick to the gum so I can spit it out with the gum."
Then, as Didi spat out the gum into a trash can, saw that her tooth was still there, and put another piece of bubble gum in her mouth, Stu said, "I hate to say it, Deed, but the only thing that will get you is a mouth full of cavities. My dentist said so."
Upon hearing this, Didi was so scared she swallowed her gum, but her tooth was still there.
All through the school day, Didi's older friends gave her some suggestions.
"Why not try eating carrots for lunch?" asked Melinda.
Stu said, "I may invent a machine that will remove baby teeth from kids' mouths. You just put the person's head in the machine, and it should remove the tooth gently and easily."
And Stu showed Didi, Chas, Melinda, Betty, and Drew his blueprint.
But Chas was concerned for Didi, and he said, "I don't know, Stu. Maybe your invention isn't such a good idea. I mean, are you sure it's safe for first graders like Didi?"
Betty then said to Didi, "Ya know, Deed, you could put raisins in your mouth to make it look like you have missing teeth."
"Betty! That's cheating!" said Melinda.
"Or maybe I could do you a big favor," said Drew. "I could punch you in the jaw! Now, hold still, Kropotkin! This is gonna hurt!"
But Didi didn't want to lose her tooth in that manner, so she dashed off screaming to the first-grade classroom as fast as she could, to the amazement of all.
Chas, Stu, Betty, and Melinda all glared at Drew.
"What?" asked Drew.
Chas replied, "Somehow, I think your idea is even worse than Stu's."
Actually, Chas wasn't too surprised that the boy who had tried to yank out his buckteeth back in kindergarten would try to punch Didi in the jaw too.
The next day, Didi was talking with Chas, Melinda, Betty, Stu, and Drew. She sighed, "I can't understand it. My tooth is loose, but it still won't come out. It's hopeless."
"Why don't you attach one end of a string to the tooth and the other end to a doorknob?" said Chas. "You just slam the door, and your tooth will come out."
"Tried it," said Didi. "The knob fell out before my tooth could."
Stu said, "Actually, I heard somewhere it's better to punch yourself in the face."
"Tried it," said Didi. "It made my lip bleed, but had no effect on my tooth."
Then, Melinda said, "How about a game of dodgeball with the rest of us?"
"Tried it," said Didi. "I scraped my knee and got hit in the face, but my tooth is just as stuck as ever. Let's face it, my parents have had enough, so they decided that I need professional help! I have to go to the dentist to-day!"
Chas, Melinda, Betty, and Stu gasped with horror.
"No! Not the dentist!" cried Chas.
"What's wrong?" asked Didi.
"Oh, the dentist is the most terrible thing that'll ever happen to a kid!"
"What do you mean?"
Chas had to explain: "I'll tell you, but it's not a pretty picture. When I was in second grade, I also had a loose tooth that just wouldn't come out. So, my mom and dad took me to the dentist. First, I was led to a little room and made to sit on an uncomfortable chair. Then, the dentist came in, pretending to be a nice guy, my best friend even. He said, 'Hello, Charles. Have you been a good boy lately?'
"All I stammered was, 'Y-y-y-y-y-yes, sir.'
"The dentist said, 'Don't you remember me? I'm your friend. I know that you have a loose tooth, and I know just what you need to get it out…'
"But all of a sudden, the dentist changed! He went from being a nice old man to a crazy old man! He had a pair of pliers! I thought I could hear him cackling as he held me down, and then he yanked out my loose tooth, and I cried and cried as the dentist said, 'There, now, that wasn't so bad, was it?'
"But it is bad, Didi. Really bad. And the worst part is, there's nothing you can do about it. Once your parents decide that you have to go to the dentist, there's no going back."
Didi was horrified by Chas' recollection, while Melinda placed her hand on Chas' shoulder in sympathy.
But Drew taunted her by saying, "Boy, Kropotkin, do I feel sorry for you."
Melinda was furious. "It's not funny, Drew!" she scolded. "Charles had his tooth yanked when he was in second grade, and it made him cry! He said so himself!"
"Cry? Only dumb first and second graders cry after they get their teeth yanked!"
"Yeah?" said Didi. "Well, I'm a first grader, and I'm scared!"
But Stu said to Didi, "Ah, I'll bet it'll be fine, Deed."
That afternoon, at the dentist's, Didi was seated with her father in one section of the waiting room, while Drew was seated with his father in another section.
When Didi saw Drew, she asked, "Drew? What are you and your daddy doing here?"
Drew replied, "I also have a loose tooth that won't come out, but I'm just here for a check-up. As for you…" He made a throat-slashing motion that terrified Didi.
At that moment, Lou glared at Boris and made a throat-slashing motion to him.
But unlike his daughter, Boris wasn't scared. In fact, he glared back at Lou and clenched his fist.
Presently, an assistant came to the waiting room and said, "Didi Kropotkin, the dentist will see you now."
Didi shuddered at the thought, and when her father noticed this, he asked, "Are you all right, Didila?"
Didi replied, "Yeah, sure…"
And the assistant led the apprehensive Didi to the dentist's office.
In the dentist's office, Didi sat nervously as the dentist washed his hands and said to her, "What's the matter, Didi? Don't you remember me, your old pal?"
Didi replied, "I'm the last kid in my first-grade class who still has all her baby teeth, but one of them is really loose."
"Ah, I see," said the dentist. "A-ha! I know what you'll need…"
Didi quivered at what the dentist might do to her, but he said, "Say 'ah.'"
"Ah." Didi opened her mouth as the dentist gently prodded her tooth with his tongue depressor.
"Sure is a stubborn little baby tooth," said the dentist. "But having baby teeth doesn't mean you're a baby, Didi. I myself didn't lose my first baby tooth until I was nearly eight! Everyone is different."
"Really?" asked Didi.
"Yours will fall out very soon. Just wait."
Back in the waiting room, Boris said to Didi, "See, Didila? That wasn't so bad."
And Didi smiled and said, "Thanks for taking me to the dentist, daddy."
Presently, however, they heard a boy screaming. This boy was Drew, who had just had his baby tooth pulled, and now he was crying, "I want my mommy!"
"Don't cry, Drew," said Lou. "You just lost another baby tooth."
"I know! But I want my mommy!" cried Drew.
Lou asked the dentist, "Is he gonna be all right?"
The dentist replied, "Don't worry, Mr. Pickles. It was only a light tug. He'll be completely fine. It's just that some kids can take the dentist, and some kids can't."
Didi giggled upon seeing that the same big boy who taunted her as a "baby" was himself crying like a baby over having his tooth pulled. Evidently, while Didi had had an easy time at the dentist, both Chas and Drew had not.
The next day, just as the school day was about to begin, Chas and Melinda walked to the fourth-grade classroom, Howard and Charlotte walked to the third-grade classroom, Stu and Betty walked to the second-grade classroom, and Didi ran for the first-grade classroom.
"Stu! Stu!" Didi cried out. "I have something important to tell you! Some children don't lose their teeth until the age of eight! Everybody is different!"
Presently, Didi bumped into Stu, whereupon they both fell to the floor and got up to rub their heads.
"Didi, are you okay?" asked Stu as he led Didi up. "I'm so sorry."
"It's okay, Stu," Didi replied. "It just might be the best thing that's ever happened to me."
And Didi smiled, revealing that her loose tooth had finally come out, to the amazement of Chas, Melinda, Howard, Charlotte, and Betty. Didi had lost her first tooth.
"Oh, Didi, you should put it under your pillow for 25 cents," said Chas with a smile.
And Didi smiled back. Losing her first baby tooth was a joy for young Didi Kropotkin.
