My son plays chess against . . . a tooth

I knew there was something unusual going on when I heard my daughter roaring with laughter from the dining room.

I was in the kitchen, all of about 5 feet away, but I was busy doing something – making a lunch for the next day, or washing dishes, or some other mundane task, when I heard her.

Before I could even ask what was going on, she was practically on the floor laughing even harder.

So I stopped what I was doing, and walked over to where my kids were. There was my daughter, practically rolling on the floor and in tears from laughing so hard.

And there, sitting at the dining table, was my son, playing a game of chess . . . against his tooth.

After I quit laughing, I found out how this had all come about. My son had asked my daughter to play him in a game of chess. When she said she didn’t have time, he said fine, he would just play against his tooth. He had lost the tooth the day before.

In case you’re wondering, this is what happens if you let your 6-year old watch old episodes of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. In fact, it was like something from Monty Python. I kept expecting John Cleese to announce, (use British accent)”And now for something completely different. A 10-year-old boy plays chess, against his tooth.”

I would like to say that I was surprised at what I saw. Or that this was, in fact, an unusual occurence at our house. But it wasn’t.

Actually, it’s exactly the kind of stuff I love to see at our house.

Two final notes: First, yes, it was a “wisdom” tooth. And yes, my son did “pull out” the win, but it was a bit of a struggle.