Looking at my son's school calendar for the month of June, I see "last day of school celebrations!" and right away, there are tears in my eyes. What a celebration, indeed! My son has blossomed into such a social little boy, with the most amazing sense of humour, compassion and the ability to understand things that most children his age don't. He watches the Discovery Channel, he knows and cares about those in other parts of the world, who don't have food, or a roof over their head, and he asks countless numbers of questions, always inquiring. He is into fossils now, always wants to know how things are made, and has decided rather than becoming a constuction worker, he will be a paleontologist.
Watching your child reach certain milestones - the first smile, the first crawl, and the first time they walk, is emotional for a mom. Every time a milestone is reached, I shed a few tears, because it reminds me how quickly time passes. In fact, the baby phase goes by much too quickly, if you ask me.
Haven't we all said "I can't wait until they grow up!" at one point or another? And then, when that day comes, you wonder how it snuck up on you so fast. And that you didn't really mean it, after all.
Some 'milestones' that meant meltdown for me included the day I gave my boys the bottle for the first time, and the day my oldest son was toilet trained. Yes, it only took a day, and yes, I was happy, but it was another 'baby' phase, just flushed down the toilet!
And my baby, my youngest? Now two years old, he's already, although still a mama's boy, a little spit-fire, fiercely independent, always happy, brave and fearless. Oh yes, I imagine many nights of lost sleep as he gets older. My worry will only continue to increase!
Recently, a pretty HUGE milestone was reached, unexpectedly. In the car on our weekend trip to Toronto, my oldest son was playing with his seatbelt. It snappbed back, and then...
I saw him holding his mouth. And then I saw my husband looking into hand.
"What? What happened? What is it?" I asked.
"His tooth just fell out," my husband answered.
"WHAT?" I screamed, in shock - this wasn't supposed to happen yet! Even though he did get his bottom two teeth in at four months old, and even though children whose teeth come in early lose them early, I was shocked. That was it. A baby tooth, gone.
I held it together, not as good as my husband, but better than my mom who was crying in the front seat of our rented mini-van. And I looked at my son, with his new smile, and I couldn't help but smile myself, even though my heart was aching at the same time.
Milestones... so bittersweet!
P.S. The tooth fairy left him $5 in Toronto, and $50 dollars back home, with a personalized letter and everything. She was so proud of him!
Comments
$50? WOWZA! I'll knock my tooth out for 50 bucks.
I am sure I will drop lots of money and make it extra special when my daughter loses her first tooth!
Your a great mom and an fabulous tooth fairy!
yes, the toothfairy over here had to google the going rate too. between $2-$5 was the quote 5 years ago, but she went with $5 because, you know, he's an adorable little dude. :)
Congrats to you on holding it together!! I'm with you – even though he got his teeth early, it must be a little shocking that he's lost one already. But I have to say, that pic of him smiling with the missing tooth is just PRECIOUS!!!