It can't be true. My (only-just-turned-5) daughter has lost a baby tooth! This means she's close to leaving home, and I'm a mere step away from the grave!! Or perhaps I exaggerate. It's been known to happen.
I've always found the reaching of each childhood milestone to be bittersweet. I'm not one of those mothers who says "Hallelujah! That's one kid off to school!".... or "Thank goodness we can get rid of that cot." I always feel a certain nostalgia as each phase of childhood passes, because I know it's never coming around again. You can't say, "Stop, hang on! I wasn't paying enough attention!", because that time is gone forever. So, packing away the cot for the last time gave me a tight feeling in my throat; taking Laura for her first day at school left me faintly sad as well as awfully proud.
Luckily children always have new tricks up their sleeves to distract us. Ben constantly amazes me with his inquiring mind. Laura, my sweet gap-toothed Laura, is showing an artistic streak that fascinates me. In this way, our kids show us that although the past is lost to us, today is a joy in itself, and the future holds many more wonders. So no need to chastise me, I don't stay nostalgic for too long. Just until the tooth fairy dust has settled.
19 comments:
Yes, Jelly, she is growing up.
I'm not really that sentimental about things - sometimes I feel I should be...But it's not who I am. As long as my babbas know I love them, and they love me right back, then I'm pretty happy :)
I agree with you Jelly. I am not one of those Moms that can't wait to get rid of the kids. My Kennedy is turning 5 in May & will be going to Kindergarten in Sept!!! I am sooooo not ready to let her go!! It was hard when my son went but this is my last one.....waaaaaa!!!!!
What a beautiful gap-toothed smile. Don't we wish all out teeth looked that straight, white, healthy, and new?
I look at my eldest granddaughter who will be five in August and she is growing up before our eyes. I looked at the pictures I recently posted and these two are no longer babies. Dancer Girl has started preliminary home-schooling and I'm amazed at what she knows already. I'm sure your Laura is the same.
Such a few precious years and then they are ready to lead their own lives. So, mom, enjoy them now because the years are going to fly by faster. The sad part is that even though we wish they would wait, all the kids want to do is grow up faster and faster until we can't keep up.
What a beautiful post. Yes, all we can do is enjoy each and every moment with our kids because they grow up so fast. One day you turn around and you wonder where all the years went.
I hear so many mothers and fathers too, say that they can't wait for the kids to grow up....But what they don't know is that they will someday wish they had taken the time to enjoy their kids...instead of wishing their lives away.
We can't go back and do it again...once the moment is past, it's gone forever.
I took the time with my kids and savored every moment and I have no regrets, while they were young. But, I made many mistakes when they were teens. And I have spent a lifetime trying to connect with my oldest daughter...but have not been successful.
Your children are at a wonderful, cute age when the tooth fairy is so exciting...and you get to do it again with Ben.
You are very lucky to have blogging friends to be able to share these things with. When I hear your stories, it brings back such wonderful memories of when my children were little. I wish I could be there again...It was a wonderful time.
Thank you for sharing.
it is amazing how quickly the other tooth will appear and the toothless grin is gone. Make her laugh lots and enjoy that precious smile!!!
So far Zoe's second teeth have already appeared before the other fell out so I wasn't able to enjoy the toothless smiles.
So what is the going rate for the toothfairy now? I used to get a quarter! Shows my age, huh?
Thanks for your recent comment on my blog, I love to read yours, too (well except maybe for the recent n/v episode)!
Such a lovely post! It was just a minute ago that my son was losing his first tooth, now he has been in and out of braces, a teenager, a young man. Take lots of photographs, children change by the day. It is bittersweet as we want then to grow, but still stay small and sweet. Our jobs as mothers is to teach our children to become independant of us - I hate that part!!!
I'm like you in that I'm sentimental as well. You know, it wasn't so difficult when they went to their first day of school. For me, it was hard when the year ended. And it was hard when my daughter had her first day in middle school. They grow so fast. I cherish every moment.
I had to come back because I forgot to mention the pretty picture that Laura drew. It looks like she drew a picture of you, Laura & Ben, with mountains in the background.
These little works of art you must preserve and save for a lifetime. When the kids were little my refridgerator was covered with refrigerator art, as we called it.
It was a proud moment for them to have their pictures on display on the frig for everyone to comment on. They still remember, after 40 years, their frig art...they pull it out to look at it still...and to show it to their children.
I happened to look at Laura's drawing a little closer and noticed a notation on the bottom right that said "Groom, bride, and bridesmaid in a church." At first I thought those were people sitting in cars in the background but now they do look like people sitting in pews. Is that what the picture is about? It is very clever. Please tell Laura that we enjoyed her picture very much.
(I noticed that the "bride" had blond hair. Is that your hair color?)
Motherkitty...your comment caused me to take a much closer look at Laura's picture...and you are right...Someone is getting married and that's a church with smoke coming from chimneys, not mountains as I originally thought.
I must remind myself to look closer at things from now on, before I open my mouth.
Oh, look at that smile! That missing-tooth look is just so cute.
I get the same way about milestones. On my worst of days I sometimes think, "Oh, I can't wait till..." but when that time comes, I get sad and wonder where on earth the time went.
I also find these childhood mildstones so bittersweet. So much of it is reliving your own childhood knowing that you arn't going to go back. My baby start Kinder today. I am going to make sure to have my dark sunglasses on to disquise the tears.
Motherkitty and Sandy,
Yes, the picture is a bridesmaid, bride, and groom (notice the groom is half the size of the bride and has no mouth?! Freud would have something to say about that I'm sure!). You're right, Motherkitty, there are people in pews, and they're all in a big church. The grey blobs are clouds, I do believe.
Motherkitty, my hair is now more honey-brown, but is artificially highlighted with blond streaks!
It was sad for me this year when school started. I took the day off work like I do every year only to realize since my youngest was starting middle school that I wasn't needed.
They grow too fast.
Aw! I loved playingthe tooth fairy. :-)
Oh the dear old tooth fairy..... My granddaughter Jenson, lost a tooth at a restaurent and was so up set that night, thinking the tooth fairy wouldn't remember her...Well my daughter, (a very bright young mom) wrote a little letter to her, saying she was a friend of her tooth fairy, and she found her tooth....and not to worry because she would give the tooth to Jensons tooth fairy when she sees her. Mom (tooth fairy) left her money, and sprinkled fairy dust in her room, and she never knew the difference.....lol
When our kids were little, we told them that if they would leave a tooth and a quarter under their pillow at night, the tooth fairy would come and haul it away... made a pile of quarters that way.
Reading the comments is almost as much fun as reading your posts :) John is a clever one :)
Every stage leads to another, just as interesting one, as you say. The whole process is fascinating and wonderful. The kids at school are always happy to have loose teeth and sometimes want us to pull them out. No, thank you! The gappy smiles are gorgeous, and as always, you write so beautifully. LOVE Laura's artwork. She really does show talent!
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