This afternoon while I was getting some rest on the couch, a call came in from my daughter's preschool. She was in school at the time, so I knew something must have happened because the school only really calls if there is a problem. I knew immediately what this "problem" was -- it had to be my daughter's tooth. She's had a loose front tooth for a good month or so - her first, although not of the typical sort (refer to this post for details).
Sure enough, it was the principal calling to say that my daughter had lost the tooth today during Muscle Room (i.e gym class). The straggler had been hanging by a string for about a week and had become pretty hideous looking - it was discolored and longer than the rest of the teeth. I wanted to rip the thing out myself, but I knew that would be too traumatizing for my little drama queen. She wanted to just let it fall out by gravity alone.
Apparently during Circle Time in the Muscle Room she had been fiddling with it a little and it popped right out, sending her into an immediate, full-fledged hissy-fit. The teacher had her wash her mouth out with water while she secured the tooth in a bag. My daughter quickly became inconsolable. It was only about an hour before school was out anyway, so I told the principal that we would come get her. Since I'm still recovering from surgery and highly medicated, I had to call my mom to come get me and drive to the school to pick up my daughter.
The principal met us at the door with my somber, heart-broken little girl. She looked so sad that I wanted to cry myself. She wouldn't open her mouth right away and when she talked she covered her mouth with her hand, apparently embarrassed by her new smile. We told her we'd go through Steak 'N Shake to get her an ice cream or a shake to make her mouth feel better. This made her happier. I reminded her that everyone loses their teeth, that it was just a sign that she's getting bigger and even more like Mama (she likes to call herself my twin). This seemed to help a bit.
When we got home, she eventually disappeared into the playroom with her little sister. A few minutes later, they reappeared proudly in dressup clothes asking for pictures to be taken. To my surprise, my older daughter was very proudly and knowingly sporting her new grin. I told her I was so happy to see her showing off her new smile, to which she said, Mommy, I kinda like it!
Once again, my beautiful daughter far exceeded my expectations. I thought my rather vain daughter would be sullen and pouting and depressed about the tooth loss for at least a day, but she was actually happy about it within an hour. I could not be more proud of her.
All day she has been on the phone with our family and friends, sharing her news. She's actually even looking forward to the Tooth Fairy (whom before she had considered an Evil, Thieving Witch). After thinking all these weeks about what the Tooth Fairy does with kids' teeth she told me that she believes one of the following is the most likely scenario (since Mama, when put on the spot, could not come up with anything):
Either
(a) the Tooth Fairy saves children's teeth for little babies who do not have teeth yet and then gives the big girls' baby teeth to these new babies. She hopes our good friend's 6-month-old baby gets her tooth.
or (b) the Tooth Fairy takes the kid's teeth and throws them up into the sky and the teeth become bright, sparkling stars.
She's too smart!
I think another thing that is helping her a bit is the fact that she sees the new tooth peeking out from the gums and this makes her feel better that a replacement is on the way. What she doesn't realize, however, is this tooth will have to be pulled by the dentist probably within the month. The dentist discovered that this is actually supernumerary tooth (an extra, "fake" tooth) and has to be removed asap. But I've learned not to underestimate my daughter's strength. In fact, I think I could learn a thing or two from her.
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