It's me again, Clarissa the rare blogger. I have to write this down before I forget it all. I forget a lot of things these days, something I chalk up to a side effect of 6+ years of sleep deprivation.
Anyway. I started my life as a sometime single mother this week since Jason started a new job and went to training in Titusville, Florida. He was gone Tuesday through Thursday and wouldn't you know it, when I picked Caroline up after school on Tuesday afternoon, she had a loose tooth. Just like that! I sent her to school on Tuesday morning with all teeth intact and a few hours later she's got a wiggler.
She WOULD NOT let that thing alone and kept shoving her tongue against it all evening long. She wouldn't eat at the dinner table because it would take time away from the tooth wiggling. Now, don't forget that I was all alone in this adventure because her dad was livin' it up in Florida and too bad for me because I can't stand loose teeth. They make my insides squirm. I told her that she better not expect any help from me because I was NOT pulling any teeth. If I'd wanted to touch teeth, I would've gone to dental school.
I guess she took me seriously because after the non-eating of dinner, she wandered off and then came running back into the kitchen (while I'm on the phone, of course) and shrieked, "There's blood!" And sure enough, that little-girl tongue had pushed that tooth right out! I hung up on my phone conversation (sorry, Grandma) and rushed her to the bathroom to rinse out the blood. And there on the counter was a little white rock of baby Caroline tooth. I held it in my hand and thought about when I first saw that tooth pop out of her little baby gums and of course started to get teary looking at this big girl standing excitedly before me. How did the last six years go by in what seems like a blink and oh my gosh, are the next six going to go by so quickly and oh, how sad, her daddy missed all of this and HOLY MOLY next thing I know she'll be getting married. The rational side of me tried to reason with myself, saying, "Get real, Clarissa, she still has a lot of teeth to lose and this is just a part of life - it means you are doing your job by helping her grow up - look how excited she is! Enjoy living these milestones again through her eyes!" But of course the other side was saying, "SHUT UP, look how big she is, graduation is just around the corner!"
I know it sounds like I am crazy, but these are my internal voices, I'm not hearing strange other voices telling me to do things, so I think I am still OK. For now.
Anyway, Caroline was SO excited and kept asking me, "Are you proud of me, Mom? Aren't you happy?" And I wasn't, because my BABY just lost a tooth, so I said, "Yes, I'm proud that you did it all by yourself, and I can tell that you are so happy about it!" (See, all that was true.) I put the tooth on a high shelf in her closet so that little sister wouldn't mess with it, and we went about our bedtime routine.
And then . . . she just couldn't bear to be without that tooth, so she climbed up to the shelf and got it down. She walked to my bedroom with it in her open hand . . . and then . . .
(you see this coming, right?)
SHE DROPPED THE TOOTH.
Anyway. I started my life as a sometime single mother this week since Jason started a new job and went to training in Titusville, Florida. He was gone Tuesday through Thursday and wouldn't you know it, when I picked Caroline up after school on Tuesday afternoon, she had a loose tooth. Just like that! I sent her to school on Tuesday morning with all teeth intact and a few hours later she's got a wiggler.
She WOULD NOT let that thing alone and kept shoving her tongue against it all evening long. She wouldn't eat at the dinner table because it would take time away from the tooth wiggling. Now, don't forget that I was all alone in this adventure because her dad was livin' it up in Florida and too bad for me because I can't stand loose teeth. They make my insides squirm. I told her that she better not expect any help from me because I was NOT pulling any teeth. If I'd wanted to touch teeth, I would've gone to dental school.
I guess she took me seriously because after the non-eating of dinner, she wandered off and then came running back into the kitchen (while I'm on the phone, of course) and shrieked, "There's blood!" And sure enough, that little-girl tongue had pushed that tooth right out! I hung up on my phone conversation (sorry, Grandma) and rushed her to the bathroom to rinse out the blood. And there on the counter was a little white rock of baby Caroline tooth. I held it in my hand and thought about when I first saw that tooth pop out of her little baby gums and of course started to get teary looking at this big girl standing excitedly before me. How did the last six years go by in what seems like a blink and oh my gosh, are the next six going to go by so quickly and oh, how sad, her daddy missed all of this and HOLY MOLY next thing I know she'll be getting married. The rational side of me tried to reason with myself, saying, "Get real, Clarissa, she still has a lot of teeth to lose and this is just a part of life - it means you are doing your job by helping her grow up - look how excited she is! Enjoy living these milestones again through her eyes!" But of course the other side was saying, "SHUT UP, look how big she is, graduation is just around the corner!"
I know it sounds like I am crazy, but these are my internal voices, I'm not hearing strange other voices telling me to do things, so I think I am still OK. For now.
Anyway, Caroline was SO excited and kept asking me, "Are you proud of me, Mom? Aren't you happy?" And I wasn't, because my BABY just lost a tooth, so I said, "Yes, I'm proud that you did it all by yourself, and I can tell that you are so happy about it!" (See, all that was true.) I put the tooth on a high shelf in her closet so that little sister wouldn't mess with it, and we went about our bedtime routine.
And then . . . she just couldn't bear to be without that tooth, so she climbed up to the shelf and got it down. She walked to my bedroom with it in her open hand . . . and then . . .
(you see this coming, right?)
SHE DROPPED THE TOOTH.
Several minutes on hands and knees later, and I finally told her I just couldn't find that itty bitty tooth, and she dissolved into tears. I felt so bad for her. So I suggested that we write a note to the tooth fairy explaining the problem and put that under the pillow and hope for the best.
Caroline dictated,
"Dear Tooth Fairy,
I have dropped my tooth in my mommy's room and I never got a visit from you. Will you leave me money anyway?
Your friend,
Caroline"
So, still sniffling, Caroline put the letter under her pillow and fell asleep (pretty quickly, thankfully, unlike her sister but that's a different story). The Tooth Fairy apparently accepts lost-tooth notes because she took the note and left a gold dollar coin (which, thankfully, she had gotten a few months ago just for this purpose because she had no cash in her wallet at all and, if not for the gold dollars, would've had a lot of 'splainin to do in the morning). The Tooth Fairy breathed a sigh of relief, patted herself on the back for her quick thinking and preplanning, and waited for morning.
When Caroline woke up, the tears started to flow again because, she claimed, the Tooth Fairy didn't leave her any money after all. And, sure enough, there was nothing under that pillow. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. I know for a FACT that Tooth Fairy left it there. So, even with the very real threat of a tardy slip looming, we searched all over the area for the money and finally found it under the bed. (?) Caroline was half happy, but still sad that the Tooth Fairy didn't get to take her tooth. I told her that the Tooth Fairy probably picked up a lot of other kids' teeth that night and would be OK with accepting her letter in lieu of a tooth.
So, that is the story of the first lost (literally!) tooth in the Hodges household. I sure hope Daddy is here for the next one!
No comments:
Post a Comment