There's something special in the air at the Ola house, and it's more than the aroma of leftover turkey and freshly hung mistletoe. Yes, the tooth fairy is about to pay a visit.

My son Alex has been nursing his first loose tooth since before Thanksgiving, and to be brutally honest, the entire family is ready to yank the darn thing out.

His latest trick with the tooth is to press his tongue against it and force the itty-bitty incisor onto his lower lip so it pokes out like a tiny cigar. Very endearing to most, but frustrating to those of us that have to see it 24/7.

For evidence of his annoying little ritual, just wait for our Christmas card to get delivered to your mailbox, where you will find my perfectly dressed daughter smiling like her last name was Osmond and my son smoking his tiny tooth like he was the Marlboro Man.

When he's not busy taking a drag from his tooth, he's busy making this annoying slurping sound with his lower lip and the space where the tooth should be. It sounds like someone attempting to suck the very last drop of soda through a tiny straw for hours on end, and then giggling when they realize it can't be done.

Lately I've pressed him to let me take a look, but he's a crafty little guy.

"No way Jose," he says, taking time to slur the "s" while he runs into the next room. This kid's momma didn't raise a fool, as he is well aware that my looking at his tooth is instant death for the hapless piece of enamel.

His gymnastics teacher, cool Coach Kevin, suggested the old "tie the tooth to the end of a door and give it a quick slam." Cool coach Kevin ain't so cool anymore, as Alex grimaced at the mere thought of doing something so barbaric.

"It will come out naturally," Alex said to me last night.

And therein lies the problem.

My son is a rational-thinking, easy-going sort of kid living in an irrational, fast-paced world filled with gym classes, preschool, soccer, reading and everything else imaginable.

What other 5-year-old has the ability to not force something; to allow something to occur on its own, natural course? More importantly, where did he get this trait? I know that it wasn't me, and certainly not my wife.

He's always been this way, too. While deliberate and methodical, he lets things take their natural course knowing that he has little, if any, effect on the outcome by forcing nature forward.

The other day I asked him what he thought the tooth fairy would put under his pillow. His answer typified his Jimmy Buffett-like attitude.

"Whatever he brings, Dad."

There will be dozens of lost teeth along his road to adulthood, and I can only hope that his carefree, natural way of thinking continues to have a profound impact on me personally.

Most days, it makes me sit back and smile at this beautiful, wonderful person smiling back at me. Now let's hope that smile is missing a tooth by my next deadline. Otherwise, I might need to get a pointer or two from cool Coach Kevin on the type of knot to tie around the tooth.