When I was a girl, I remember standing in the dimly lit hallway of the old house next to my little sister, as I tied a string around my very loose baby tooth and secured it to a door knob. Of course, I couldn't imagine pulling the tooth myself, and I knew that this was a tried and true method to take care of my wiggly tooth issue. Tara I think was just there for moral support. Slam! Done.
Now that I'm a mother, I have always encouraged my kids, Zander 9 and Jocelyn 6, to lose their teeth at daddy's house... or at school. Zander never had much of a problem taking care of business, and pulled more than one tooth on his own. Happily I might add – the bloodier, the better. So we discovered last week that Jocelyn had a wiggly, somewhat bloody front tooth. She would nudge it forward and back with her tongue, and not let anyone near it.
I promptly reminded her of the rule previously stated. Mommy doesn't do loose teeth. She promptly laughed in my face. A few days went by, and a few nights at daddy's house I might add, and her front tooth was still hanging on. Saturday afternoon, we went to the Anderson Apple Orchard and came back with two bags of freshly picked apples and six carmel apples. I congratulated myself on this brilliant new strategy and was certain when I gave her an apple dipped in creamy carmel, that her front tooth would surely fall out the minute she bit into it. Well, I've never seen a child eat all the carmel off the apple before, never even breaking the skin. As I threw her whole, decaramelized apple in the trash, I knew Jocey had won this round. It was now Jocelyn 2 points, mommy zero.
So back to school she went on Monday, and to daddy's house again. I even sent him a text message encouraging him to pull the tooth for her. His response was simple and clear. "I'm not going to make her cry." Those words would haunt me later...
While I'm at the office Wednesday, I looked at my phone and saw that I had missed three calls from grandma's house. The frequency of the calls 4:59pm, 5:01pm and 5:27pm all told me that my princess was calling me. I checked my voicemail on the way home and my heart melted at her three almost identical voicemails.
"Hi Mommy, this is Jocelyn. This is a reminder. My tooth doesn't have any blood or oxygen in it. It's turning blue. I think I need to go to the doctor. I love you very much. When are you coming home to pick me and Bubby up? Byyyyeeee"
Of course, I saved all three messages; she's not going to have her chipmunk imitation voice forever.
I called grandma's house and spoke with Zander. I asked him just to pull her tooth. He told me she wouldn't let him. To this I responded "I'll pay her $5 to let you.". Yes, I tried to bribe my 6 year old girl with $5 to allow someone other than me to pull her tooth. He passed along my offer and I could hear her response clearly in the background of the phone. "I don't need money. I want a new teddy bear." Part of me laughed, and the other part thought, this isn't costing me more than $5. So I countered offered with "I'll bring her ice cream." Ha, I thought. The deal was sealed. Jocey never passes up ice cream. We hung up the phone and I hoped...
My phone rang again. Zander said he just couldn't get it. Dang. Jocelyn 3, mommy still zero.
I got my kids home and my wonderful man was making dinner. So, I tried to muster up the courage to yank that tooth out myself. Jocey opened her mouth, I grabbed it with my thumb and index finger and began to pull. Here's the thing. The tooth didn't just fall out when I touched it. So, this wasn't going to work either. I just grossed myself out imagining that I'd succeeded.
I asked Todd "Will you please pull it out?". He shook his head, "Nope, she won't let me.". I hung my head in defeat and walked away. But you see, I hadn't lost! I had an inside man. I had a Bubby. After dinner, I hear Zander say, "Mommy, do you have any string?" String! Yes, I have string! Why didn't I think about that. I did that when I was little! Zander shared his plan with Jocey, and she told him she would "consider it" while she was in the bath tub.
As luck would have it, she consented to the idea of tying a string to her tooth. Zander was so excited to finally see some action that he was going to bounce right out the door. Instead, he went to get Eric, his soon to be step-brother, to take in the show. The boys hovered around us just waiting for the moment when Jocey would finally swing the door closed and the tooth would fly out. And fly out it did. I gave an excited, shrill cheer, and Jocey reacted instantly with glee. The boys immediately began the search for the tooth and that's when the screaming began.
The moment Jocey tasted blood, and I saw it gushing from her mouth, it was downhill from there. Drops of blood splattered on the floor as I walked her to the sink to get a wet towel. Suddenly, I couldn't think clearly. I could only hear the very loud cries of my baby girl. Not a whimper, but a real, gut wrenching cry. Oh dear God, what have I done? Twenty minutes, some Ibuprofen, a wet wash rag and plenty of hugs, kisses and apologies from mommy later, she was ready for bed. The whole time, I hear her muttering, "This is the worst night of my life." I kind of agreed with her.
She went to bed really easily after that and I knew I would have to remember to get the tooth from under her pillow and replace it with cash. It had to be paper money this time. Coins just weren't going to cut it. I settled on $2 and went to bed.
This morning, I went to wake her up, and to watch her discover what the Tooth Fairy had left for her. She showed me the two dollars and we celebrated. About this time, Zander came in and he began trying to talk her out of her newly found earnings. Then he says something I didn't quite understand. "Jocey, are you sure there isn't another dollar under your pillow?" I told him, no $2.00 was what the Tooth Fairy left. He insisted... He then went to her pillow and shook it and another dollar fell out. She was over-joyed at this. Zander and I looked at each other, and in that moment, I knew that he would always be there for his little sister.
He had snuck into her bedroom without me knowing it and placed one of his own dollars in her pillow case. My heart melted with the strength of the bond that my kids have for each other. I realized, that the whole time I was pushing Jocey to make sure her tooth would fall out at daddy's house, that Zander was there with her. He was there to try to pull the tooth, when I couldn't. He was right there to comfort her. He was there to show her how proud he was of her. That she would be so brave, and he would be so thoughtful... there just aren't enough words for me to describe it.
I went to work this morning, thanking God for my kids. That they have each other. I can only hope that they will continue to make their bond even stronger as they grow up. I'm sure it's just fanciful dreaming on my part, but hey... that's what moms do. And sometimes, it's really great to have some help... and a Bubby.
Now that I'm a mother, I have always encouraged my kids, Zander 9 and Jocelyn 6, to lose their teeth at daddy's house... or at school. Zander never had much of a problem taking care of business, and pulled more than one tooth on his own. Happily I might add – the bloodier, the better. So we discovered last week that Jocelyn had a wiggly, somewhat bloody front tooth. She would nudge it forward and back with her tongue, and not let anyone near it.
I promptly reminded her of the rule previously stated. Mommy doesn't do loose teeth. She promptly laughed in my face. A few days went by, and a few nights at daddy's house I might add, and her front tooth was still hanging on. Saturday afternoon, we went to the Anderson Apple Orchard and came back with two bags of freshly picked apples and six carmel apples. I congratulated myself on this brilliant new strategy and was certain when I gave her an apple dipped in creamy carmel, that her front tooth would surely fall out the minute she bit into it. Well, I've never seen a child eat all the carmel off the apple before, never even breaking the skin. As I threw her whole, decaramelized apple in the trash, I knew Jocey had won this round. It was now Jocelyn 2 points, mommy zero.
So back to school she went on Monday, and to daddy's house again. I even sent him a text message encouraging him to pull the tooth for her. His response was simple and clear. "I'm not going to make her cry." Those words would haunt me later...
While I'm at the office Wednesday, I looked at my phone and saw that I had missed three calls from grandma's house. The frequency of the calls 4:59pm, 5:01pm and 5:27pm all told me that my princess was calling me. I checked my voicemail on the way home and my heart melted at her three almost identical voicemails.
"Hi Mommy, this is Jocelyn. This is a reminder. My tooth doesn't have any blood or oxygen in it. It's turning blue. I think I need to go to the doctor. I love you very much. When are you coming home to pick me and Bubby up? Byyyyeeee"
Of course, I saved all three messages; she's not going to have her chipmunk imitation voice forever.
I called grandma's house and spoke with Zander. I asked him just to pull her tooth. He told me she wouldn't let him. To this I responded "I'll pay her $5 to let you.". Yes, I tried to bribe my 6 year old girl with $5 to allow someone other than me to pull her tooth. He passed along my offer and I could hear her response clearly in the background of the phone. "I don't need money. I want a new teddy bear." Part of me laughed, and the other part thought, this isn't costing me more than $5. So I countered offered with "I'll bring her ice cream." Ha, I thought. The deal was sealed. Jocey never passes up ice cream. We hung up the phone and I hoped...
My phone rang again. Zander said he just couldn't get it. Dang. Jocelyn 3, mommy still zero.
I got my kids home and my wonderful man was making dinner. So, I tried to muster up the courage to yank that tooth out myself. Jocey opened her mouth, I grabbed it with my thumb and index finger and began to pull. Here's the thing. The tooth didn't just fall out when I touched it. So, this wasn't going to work either. I just grossed myself out imagining that I'd succeeded.
I asked Todd "Will you please pull it out?". He shook his head, "Nope, she won't let me.". I hung my head in defeat and walked away. But you see, I hadn't lost! I had an inside man. I had a Bubby. After dinner, I hear Zander say, "Mommy, do you have any string?" String! Yes, I have string! Why didn't I think about that. I did that when I was little! Zander shared his plan with Jocey, and she told him she would "consider it" while she was in the bath tub.
As luck would have it, she consented to the idea of tying a string to her tooth. Zander was so excited to finally see some action that he was going to bounce right out the door. Instead, he went to get Eric, his soon to be step-brother, to take in the show. The boys hovered around us just waiting for the moment when Jocey would finally swing the door closed and the tooth would fly out. And fly out it did. I gave an excited, shrill cheer, and Jocey reacted instantly with glee. The boys immediately began the search for the tooth and that's when the screaming began.
The moment Jocey tasted blood, and I saw it gushing from her mouth, it was downhill from there. Drops of blood splattered on the floor as I walked her to the sink to get a wet towel. Suddenly, I couldn't think clearly. I could only hear the very loud cries of my baby girl. Not a whimper, but a real, gut wrenching cry. Oh dear God, what have I done? Twenty minutes, some Ibuprofen, a wet wash rag and plenty of hugs, kisses and apologies from mommy later, she was ready for bed. The whole time, I hear her muttering, "This is the worst night of my life." I kind of agreed with her.
She went to bed really easily after that and I knew I would have to remember to get the tooth from under her pillow and replace it with cash. It had to be paper money this time. Coins just weren't going to cut it. I settled on $2 and went to bed.
This morning, I went to wake her up, and to watch her discover what the Tooth Fairy had left for her. She showed me the two dollars and we celebrated. About this time, Zander came in and he began trying to talk her out of her newly found earnings. Then he says something I didn't quite understand. "Jocey, are you sure there isn't another dollar under your pillow?" I told him, no $2.00 was what the Tooth Fairy left. He insisted... He then went to her pillow and shook it and another dollar fell out. She was over-joyed at this. Zander and I looked at each other, and in that moment, I knew that he would always be there for his little sister.
He had snuck into her bedroom without me knowing it and placed one of his own dollars in her pillow case. My heart melted with the strength of the bond that my kids have for each other. I realized, that the whole time I was pushing Jocey to make sure her tooth would fall out at daddy's house, that Zander was there with her. He was there to try to pull the tooth, when I couldn't. He was right there to comfort her. He was there to show her how proud he was of her. That she would be so brave, and he would be so thoughtful... there just aren't enough words for me to describe it.
I went to work this morning, thanking God for my kids. That they have each other. I can only hope that they will continue to make their bond even stronger as they grow up. I'm sure it's just fanciful dreaming on my part, but hey... that's what moms do. And sometimes, it's really great to have some help... and a Bubby.
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