Time to Buy Some Corn on the Cob!

Last Tuesday, my sweet little beauty hit me with a maternal sucker-punch to the gut upon our return from a play date. "Hey Mommy, when I was biting down on that orange slice at their house my mouth felt weird, and look! My tooth is moving!"

My first reaction was to find out what caused the injury, being convinced that we had a dental emergency on our hands--because this little girl had only just turned five, which was way too early for loose teeth and grown-up tooth nonsense, right?!  Nope. Doctor Google confirmed that anywhere between the ages of 4 and 8 years is a normal range for kids to lose teeth.

So then I tried unsuccessfully not to cry. (Very unsucessfully at that).

And then I called my mom for a pep talk and reminder that she was just growing up and it was going to be okay.

And then after that, I came out of hiding I celebrated as cheerfully as I could with my rosy-cheeked, wiggly-toothed girl. She asked question after question about the process of wiggling and losing teeth, how long it would take, and how it would feel (which I racked my memory in an attempt to answer before consulting Doctor Google again), and she gushed about wanted to show everyone from her friends to her Daddy to her gymnastics coach--and followed through at every opportunity.

I cut her food into tiny pieces so she could chew more easily, and listened to her chatter about it non-stop. Since it was already the focus of pretty much every conversation, Daddy told her over dinner the next night about the "tooth pillow" with a little pocket on the front that his mom used to place on his bed so that the Tooth Fairy could easily slip the tooth out at night and replace it with some money.  I shot him death stares in a frantic attempt to quell the uprising of "Mommy, can we get a tooth pillow too?!?!" that was sure to follow, but Peter misinterpreted my looks as me not hearing him and instead repeated "tooth pillow" enough times to seal my fate. So as they piped up with the inevitable question, I promised that I would look for a tooth pillow soon. According to Doctor Google I had at least a good week or two to get my Tooth Fairy act together, so I wasn't too concerned.

Enter our star, bright and early on Saturday morning. She climbed onto our bed and snuggled in between us as I gave her sleepy instructions with my eyes still closed. "Put on some play clothes, get out your leotard, and then eat some breakfast; we're going to relax for a little bit and then go to open gym after lunch and play." She giggled an especially mischevious giggle that made me open my eyes with a start and look at her, grinning a gaping grin from ear to ear and holding her little tooth in her hands.

"OHMIGOSH IT CAME OUT!!!" I yelled as she giggled some more and showed it to her Daddy, who I'd startled awake with my super loud astonishment.

So we celebrated some more, and I shook my fist at Doctor Google as I ran through potential stores in my brain which might carry the fated tooth pillow. But it was not to be with our already busy day. So I ended up grabbing some scrap fabric from left over from the making of the reading corner, piecing together a few Pinterest ideas, and knocking out a quick little version of our very own tooth pillow with my mad sewing skillz that I've used a whole handful of times.

Decided I'd better print off an image for an outline
of the tooth pocket after trying to freehand it...fail.

She slipped the little tooth into the pocket and asked to write a note to the Tooth Fairy.

And we tucked her in with the tooth pillow and a lot of fanfare and giggling. 

I was doing just fine with the fact that the tooth had come out until it dawned on me that this first little tooth in my hand was also the first little tooth that had broken through her gums when she was just five months old. Cue more tears.

Hard to see, but it's there!

That night, I (we) put on our Tooth Fairy hat(s), and waited to be woken the next morning by one very excited little girl. At least this time, we were prepared.

Striving to perpetuate a Tooth Fairy legacy
approved by dentists everywhere.

Now every time I glance at my beautiful little girl, I'm reminded that she no longer looks like the little girl I'm used to, and day by day, tooth by tooth, she'll continue to look older and older. Which is a sad thing for this mama's heart, but a very good thing too. And also good for cheap entertainment wherever cobs of corn may be found!