Coolest Mom ever? I'm thinking about buying shark-obsessed LK one of these:

[LeftyMom]

Not one that big and nice, of course (that'd do a number on my budget, and giving a museum piece to a seven year old is a waste in any case) but I think he'd be suitably impressed anyhow.

Good idea?

[Lil Missy]

1. What the heck is that?

:shrug:

[LeftyMom]

2. It's a fossil tooth from a Charcaradon megalodon.

Think something like a great white shark, only it was the size of a city bus and ate whales.

[Lil Missy]

3. That's just ONE TOOTH??? Yikes!

[LeftyMom]

5. Yeah. If you're going to attack full-sized whales you need some fearsome dentition.

The really big surviving teeth from the biggest specimens can be over 6". Completely run-of-the-mill teeth (the ones that only run $20-30 on ebay they're so common) are 4" and change.

[sasquatch]

4. Is that vegan?

:shrug:

[LeftyMom]

7. It's a rock.

:shrug:

Sharks shed teeth constantly. A few million years ago that was still true, and though few of them were fossilized the commonness of sharks and the frequency of their tooth shedding means that shark fossils are quite common.

I'm not sure how there'd be a potential exploitation issue in buying a fossilized tooth of a long-dead shark from a long-extinct species. It's kind of like picking up a shell off the beach. Only this would be a very old shell.

In short, veganism isn't about insulating one's self from anything that ever interacted with a non-human animal, that would be impossible and a bit silly- it's just about protecting animals from exploitation and respecting their rights to live unmolested. Neither would in any way be incompatible with fossil collecting.

[jobycom]

6. No, no, no. Let the poor shark keep his tooth. Get your tike a shark tat, instead.

Put it on his bicep and he can entertain himself for hours making it move. :evilgrin:

[LeftyMom]

8. The shark died millions of years ago.

He's already bugging me for a tattoo. His latest argument is that if I have one, his dad has one, and his grandparents all have them (which isn't even true- only my mom and stepdad do) he's not sure why he can't. Right now I'm telling him it's because he's still growing and they'd get stretched out.

[jobycom]

9. He'll poke his eye out!

Get him the tat! What kind of mother are you? :rofl:

And no, neither of my kids will get a tattoo until they are old enough to blame themselves for it when they change their minds ten years later. :)

[flvegan]

10. Not very "vegan" is that?

:popcorn:

:rofl:

[LeftyMom]

11. Shut up, skinny.

Or I'll use it to shave your junk. :P

[flvegan]

12. Nice sig pic you don't got there.

[LeftyMom]

13. It's showing up for me...

Probably a problem because I rearranged my photobucket today. I'll fix it.

[InvisibleTouch]

14. Oooh, Megalodon tooth!

I've got a couple of them. Very cool! :)