A deeper appreciation...

My oldest son has his first loose tooth. It just happened that the day before I was reading to him about milk teeth. Then the next day he tries to open a plastic wrapping with his teeth, my husband tells him not to do so because he could break his teeth, then all of a sudden he looks up in dread. His tooth was loose. He didn't want it to fall out and I think he wasn't sure if it was broken or that another would grow in its place. He was quite distressed.

We don't do the imaginary stuff to make our kids behave or feel better about things (such as Santa, Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy). But given how distressed he was I became very appreciative of the Tooth Fairy concept. Instead, he talked to Grandma on the phone and I pulled out my toothless pictures so that he could see that Mommy got all her teeth back and so will he. He's a lot more accepting about the idea now.

I remember when my first tooth came out. I was eating an apple, walking along the school grounds at lunch, when I bit it, and the tooth came out. I don't remember any blood. I remember being excited that it came out.

The bottom line is that my little boy is growing up. This little boy who changed my life when I saw him for the first time, wondering why I even thought of waiting for him. Sure, we have already had some tough times. Our personalities clash quite a bit, but we are both learning how to live with one another and we are enjoying one another's company. Soon he's going to lose his first tooth. He's not that little baby anymore. Maybe this whole incident made me appreciate the tooth fairy but, come to think of it, it made me appreciate my son all the more.