The Saga of the Loose Tooth

My daughter was quite proud of her first loose tooth. She played with it, spent several minutes looking in the mirror at how loose it was, and being excited that a new tooth was on its way. Unfortunately, she hated the thought of pulling it.

I was the same way at her age. The exact same way. My parents used to have to hold me down to get my teeth out. I would beg, cry, plead for them not to do it. My childhood brain thought the pain would simply be too much for me to handle. Little did I realize that there were far worse pains in the world than having your tooth pulled. Childbirth, to name one!

I used to let my baby teeth dangle by a miniscule thread, so much so that nothing was anchoring the tooth to my gums except my sheer will power. I really don't know why I was so scared of the entire ordeal.

So when my daughter was terrified of having her tooth pulled, I calmly told her that we would wait as long as she wanted to. I wouldn't rush her into anything. After all, I knew exactly what she was going through.

But last night, I heard her crying hysterically. I rushed upstairs and she had wiggled her tooth just a little too hard, resulting in a bit of blood. The last thread had been cut and the tooth was still there, holding on by her sheer will power. We went into the bathroom and she continued to sob, great huge tears spilling from her eyes. She kept clamping her hand over her mouth, telling me not to touch her tooth, while I walked down memory lane, remembering that I did the exact same thing to my mom.

I prayed, I reminded myself to be very patient, and my little daughter eventually wiped a hand across her eyes, took a deep breath, and opened her mouth.

Wallah! It came out as easily as an egg does from an egg carton. No pain. She said, "That didn't hurt at all!"

And of course, she was quite proud of herself for the whole ordeal.

Being the sensitive gal that I am, I nearly wept when I held that tooth in my hand. My baby's first tooth. And it was soon to be replaced with her permanent tooth. These milestones are so small, yet so very, very important to me. I want to savor each one and remember them fondly in the days to come. After all, it's not every day that your baby loses her first tooth.

As for my daughter, she has instructed us to tell the tooth fairy not to come for a few days. She wants to show her prize off to her daycare friends and, I'm sure, tell them all the gory details of her first heroic trek into the world of adult teeth.