Brady lost his first tooth today! I’ve missed some of my kids’ firsts, either because I was at work or simply not in the same room as them. I missed Colin rolling over for the first time because I was giving the older boys a bath, but I don’t feel TOO bad because Mark missed it too, and he was in the same room as him.
Of all the firsts, I’m especially glad I was able to see this one. When babies are little and they stand for the first time or crawl for the first time, it’s fun to watch the look on their faces. With this lost tooth, I was not only able to see Brady’s surprise on his face, but was able to have a conversation with him about it.
That tooth had been hanging on by a thread all week. It was completely shifted to the right and could bend forward nearly 90 degrees, but he refused to pull it out. It was getting to the point that I was worried he would choke on it in his sleep. I always wondered who came up with the tooth fairy and now I’m pretty sure it was a neurotic mom like me, who was worried her kid would choke on his own tooth, so she thought the promise of money under the pillow would convince him to yank it out. It didn’t work for Brady. He wanted it to fall out “on its own.”
Late this morning, I was rocking Colin to sleep. The older boys were playing in their bedroom when suddenly Brady went flying into the bathroom like a bat out of hell. I figured he just had to use the bathroom but then he came out holding the tiny, little tooth. “Look,” he shouted, just as the baby was drifting off to sleep, “My tooth came out!” He smiled wide and I could see the gaping hole. I asked him how it came out and he told me that he had bit into a Skittle and he felt something hard in his mouth and it was his tooth, and it didn’t hurt at all. Side note: I did not know the kids had pirated a bag a Skittles into their room, must start frisking children before allowing them to play unsupervised.
Even though he is still in preschool, he has really passed from preschoolhood into boyhood. When I was a little girl, my Grandma J used to tell me that she hated to watch me grow up. I remember thinking that was so silly. That’s the whole point, isn’t it? To grow up? I know what she means now. Brady losing a tooth feels bittersweet to me, kind of like the first time I found myself shopping in the boys’ department instead of toddlers’. It’s an incredible gift to watch your children grow and become more independent, but still a little sad. The tooth serves as a reminder of the unrelenting passage of time to the day that I become “Mom” instead of “Mommy,” and I’m not the girl he wants to hold hands with, and he doesn’t need (and definitely doesn’t want) my constant attention. My mom says if you have enough kids, you’re not sad when they move out, but I think I still might be.
And I felt all that from a little tooth. Imagine the day he goes on his first date, good thing I won’t allow that until he’s thirty. Joking (kind of.)