Toooofff DAY

Okay, so my darling diva has 4 loose front teeth on top. The front two have been loose seriously for 5 months. I thought she would loose them before my sisters wedding in December. Those things are hanging on, I mean haaannnggging, which just freaks me out. "Ewww, ewwww stop wiggling your tooth at me" is not uncommon for me to say lately. She thinks it's funny to chase me around wiggling the darn things! I know I'm the adult I'm supposed to be all supportive and keep my wig outs to myself but that's not me. I don't like spiders, have been known to scream, and loose teeth just gross me out. She's in first grade, has lost 4 which is about average, but this is by the worst loose tooth event yet. What is kind of funny is that when she was little she didn't get her first tooth till 11 months old! My friend and I were so freaked about why our kids didn't get teeth at 4 months like ALL the other babies in the world. We would say things like "we will love them even with out teeth, they can adapt and maybe we'll get implants." We would seriously sit and consider options to all this stuff we worried about. Meanwhile while worrying I was convinced from 4 months forward that any freak out my little love had was teething so I'd pop her some teething tablets. Thank god they were homeopathic because she must have eaten 5 bottles in those months! (my head tells me, hey if it hurts you better medicate it)

Now here is the thing about teeth......kids teeth-they come in so cute, stay that way until they start to loose them. I have the following fears/thoughts (I'm not the only parent who thinks these following thoughts either,so don't judge). "Holy shit my kid looks weird with no front teeth.....all gums!" and then "OMG what the hell is that, it looks like they stuck two chicklets in place of her baby teeth they are huge!" I know......it's mean, it's a fear of mine because my husband (according to pictures) and I (according to memory) had HUGE front teeth. I mean geta the saddle, and go for a ride-front teeth! I am sure there are those kids who loose their front teeth and straight ones come in and are just the appropriate size. Looking back at my picture and the ones of my husband....chances are not good that she will have appropriate size teeth.

Of course we'll love her even more and still think she is adorable but loosing those teeth represents growing up to me. I keep hoping she will loose her teeth so she stops torturing me but then I am on the edge of crying. I know, it's silly. But now she has her BABY teeth and when she gets her BIG teeth that's it. I mean those are her teeth for life for when she is a teen and a woman and that just makes me sad. I can see how quickly time is going by as I raise my two kids. Every little thing I spent so much time worrying about with the first one, hours upon hours, and everything works itself out. And time moves forward, they eventually sleep, sit up, crawl, walk, talk, pee in potty, sleep alone in bed, get into a preschool (a whole different blog), then kindergarten, riding the bike, tying shoes, first grade and here we are about to loose the front BABY teeth. What happened to my baby? She is all grown up now.....those BIG teeth are evidence you can't deny.

And I see how I've tried to cherish so many moments with my kids but have missed some in my hurry to reach a milestone, take the next step and sometimes just by not being present. One of my earliest parenting courses taught me the things I think most parents know, but I didn't. Get down on the kids level, listen to them, really listen. I still have a hard time with this but each time I take a second to listen to my kids, play with them, let them torture me with loose teeth, I grow and I hope I continue to remember to enjoy all the moments I can. We all should enjoy the moments because eventually......all those babies get BIG teeth.

P.S. By the way, if you are following my bracelet thread from before I bet I've swtiched it 20 times today! Progress not perfection is my goal.