Monday, August 11, 2008

The Tooth Is A Metaphor

Over vacation a few weeks ago, my son Hayden lost his tooth.




One morning he simply announced "My tooth is loose!" and by lunch time, that little sucker was out of his mouth and stuck in the side of a burger.

He was ecstatic.
His brother was terrified: 'I'm never going to eat again'.
And me, I was depressed.

A tooth gone already?

Why this? Why now? WHY ME?

With our first taste of full-time school just around the corner for both my babies the last thing I needed was another reminder of how fast they were growing up. Let alone a reminder that was going to stare me in the face every dang day for the next few weeks or even months, as if to say " Today, Pre-k, Tomorrow, PRE-MED!" [or pre-backpacking across Europe, whatever you want, my children, just remember whose womb from whence you came...]

Not only was I in shock, but I was horrifically unprepared for such a milestone. In a matter of moments I went from agonizing over which arm to put sunscreen on first to OMG? The tooth fairy? Do we do the tooth fairy? Do boys even like fairies or does it need to be a giant tooth truck? How much money is this going to cost me? Do I even have any cash? Am I going to have to leave an IOU?

I'll admit, I still thought I had a least a good year before we got into the tooth business. But no. Of course, not. How silly of me to assume so. I mean, I should really know better, because it was just like that time I thought I was just going to have one baby.....and then found out there was two.

Later that night, we wrote the tooth fairy a note and slipped Hayden's tooth under the pillow. As the three of us [Hayden, Cash & I] giggled over my totally awesome tooth caricatures, I slowly started to get to get over it.

After all, it was high time I learned to revel in the fact that we'd all made it to such a milestone in one piece [if you're not counting the tooth] instead of whining about getting left in the dust by my own children. Why not throw on a party hat, pour a sippy cup on the sidewalk, and celebrate how far we've come! I'm so ready to quit wasting time mourning me.

Even though it was kind of sad the tooth fairy had to borrow a dollar from her mother-in-law.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are so right that it's high time we mothers learn to enjoy the milestones we come to as opposed to viewing them on some sort of timeline or something, though that's easier said than done. It's just so much more liberating to welcome change with open arms than to fear it. And snaggletoothedness (wow, what a word) is a big change and I'm proud of you for embracing it!

Plus, HOW CUTE IS HE with a missing tooth like that?

I very much enjoyed reading this. Your blogs about your adventures in motherhood are very poignant yet humorous, and those sorts of blogs are so rare to come by. I think you're a fantastic writer, and I look forward to reading more :)

Also, I'm quite biased since you are one of my very best friends. Just wanted to say that. Love you bunches, lady.

Dusty Brown said...

Wow! Last week the dentist told me that a few of Miles' bottom teeth were beginning to wiggle and she's be without some by this time next year. I guess I better start cherishing that year. PS. You need to follow up on the tooth fairy part; I am interested in hearing how that turned out. Oh, and buy Lola and Charley's book about how Lola will absolutely never ever lose her wobbly tooth. You'll catch Cash in the bathroom trying to pry one out after that. LOL!

Anonymous said...

so fun! Love, Katy