Losing a Tooth

I first noticed the tooth was loose on the Saturday before Columbus day. It was our first loose tooth as parents, but I don't think Jay found it to be quite the memorable occasion I did. My FIRST kid's FIRST loose tooth! I thought back to my loose teeth and couldn't remember anything. I remember breaking a molar while eating a Necco wafer while walking home from the post office when I was about 11 or 12, but that's all. So I couldn't recall how long it took for a loose tooth to be set free.

We wiggled the tooth and waited. I checked it every few days to see if we were making progress, and Merrilee proudly showed it off to friends, grandparents, Sunday school classmates, and everyone else who was willing to acknowledge her magnificent milestone.

After five and a half weeks, I called the dentists office to see if there was something I didn't know. I sure didn't think any of my loose teeth took THAT long to come out when I was a kid, but I was reassured that it can take a long time and that I didn't need to worry unless she was in real pain. She wasn't, except for the time or two she ate an apple and really smashed down on the tooth. But that pain subsided quick enough and she was back to just a loose tooth.

I will have to admit one cowardly act. Merrilee really wanted that tooth to come out earlier this week, and I let her have a tissue to pull on it a few times. After the first try I got the heebie jeebies so badly that I told her to do it somewhere else. I'm a bit of a freak that way. I can handle bloody noses, and all manner of other nasty kid stuff, but things that make creepy noises just whack me. And the popping sound of a kid trying to pull out a tooth is one of them. So I did the unthinkable. I told Merrilee about the "old fashioned" method of tying a string on the tooth and pulling it. She was all for it, but little did she know I didn't have the stomach or nerve to pull the string myself. (I know my parents are probably laughing at me as they read this. They're shaking their heads saying "We knew she wouldn't be able to handle that." I have a history of being a pansy when it comes to the "little things". They know me well.) But I had a plan. I tied the string on and handed the other end of it to Jacob. As you can imagine, he had no problem with assisting in this very delicate medical maneuver. Merrilee, on the other hand, had the look of terror on her face as she realized I had betrayed her into the hands of her little brother. I reassured her he knew what he was doing (Okay, who are we kidding? He didn't know a thing, except that this could produce a tooth on a string with lots of excitement. He was all in!). Well, we tried it about four times, but with no luck. The tooth was in for another night. Thus, Jacob's moment in the spotlight was over and Merrilee breathed a sigh of relief.

Last night at about 9:45 pm, at the age of five years, seven months, and 20 days, after six weeks of wiggling it, she lost that first tooth. It was her lower left incisor. She had her friend Annalee spending the night and she was awake playing with her tooth after Annalee fell asleep. She came running out of her bedroom to tell me she “almost” pulled it out, as blood was dribbling down her lower lip. I took her to the bathroom and gave her a tissue to do a bit more of a professional job at pulling. After two lousy tries I told her to yank upward and Pop! Out it came. She was ecstatic! I haven’t seen her this excited even at her birthday parties. After we stopped the blood, she wanted to call Daddy. He asked her to save it for him to see, and she said she wanted to show it to Annalee and Jacob in the morning, and then she wanted to keep it for a few days, and then she’d mail it to him but he could only keep it for a week. She also informed me that she didn’t want to put it under her pillow because she didn’t want the tooth fairy (whom she knows is me) to take it away. She wants to wait a few days. So we had to go get a special little box out of my jewelry drawer for her to put her treasure in. She also requested we have a tea party the next day to celebrate. She went back to bed and I kept hearing her talking to herself and giggling. This is one of the singular most delightful moments of her little life. What a joy to share it with her! And to add to her delight, when I wiggled the lower right tooth as I tucked her it, I noticed it was loose too.