get a lot of firsts anymore. Or rather, firsts that we haven't seen before. Of course, each child learning to walk and talk and potty train is awesome and precious and new to them, but there's nothing like a first of something that happens to your oldest, because you, as a parent, have never experienced this first, in the role of parent. Does that make any sense?
And so the other day, we lost a tooth! One little lone tooth, that had been shaky for weeks, finally fell out - and all that's left of it is an adorable little tooth-shaped hole in my oldest's mouth.
No really, the hole is all that's left. No tooth, no nothing.
You see, the tooth, which had been playing games with us for a number of
weeks, decided to fall out when my boys were spending the night at my parents' house.
Now my mom, she's a sucker for these things like I am, so she wrapped up the tooth,
put it into a small sandwich bag, decorated the bag with stickers, placed it into an envelope, decorated that envelope too, sealed it and placed the envelope inside a mini shopping bag. I know the shopping bag left my parents' house when we picked up the boys, but alas, it did not make it home. Well, not true - the shopping bag made it home, but the tooth inside the plastic bag inside the sealed envelope did not. Crazy,
I know. We got into the car, we got out of the car. And it's not anywhere in
between.
even filled out any of my kid's baby books. (I know, isn't that just awful?!)
It's more because I was kind of looking forward to playing tooth fairy. I like
the whole idea of putting things under pillows and getting treats in exchange. I
wish I could put things under my pillow and get say, a chocolate, to wake up to.
But alas, it was not meant to be with this first tooth. Not that any of my kids
have any idea that there is a tooth fairy or what she does, but I was excited to
introduce the whole concept to them.
But not to worry, my father hooked my oldest up with plenty of money when
that tooth fell out. From I was able to tell, my son has been busy clutching a
$5 bill, three $1 bills, some quarters and a bunch of pennies. I'm guessing my
dad emptied his pockets, possibly not realizing there was a $5 bill in there.
And so my oldest counted his money repeatedly between lost-tooth-day when this all went down and this morning, when he went to camp. A logical question would be
why? Or rather, what? What would he need the money for at camp?
I'll tell you. My son has been making eyes with the candy machine in day
camp all summer. And he never has any money because I - obviously, totally
unreasonably, says my son - see no reason why a newly minted six year old
needs money in a camp that serves lunch and snacks and drinks all day long. And
also, I don't want him buying cans of soda. And fruit roll ups and potato chips and
chocolate bars. All the things he had planned to buy today. And not share.
So we compromised, and he went to camp with a dollar in change and
instructions to ask his counselor to help him buy something from the machine.
And why would a kid who has been stalking the candy machine all summer need help? Because of this:
Mommy: What are you going to buy?
Him: I don't know, I have to look when I get there.
Mommy: How will you know how much something costs?
Him: I'll look and see. If it says a seven and a five, I know I need 75cents.
Mommy: That's great, which of the coins that you have makes 75cents?
Him: These do, these three make 75cents, they're nickels, so these are
what I need (pointing at a bunch of dimes).
Hence the need to ask a counselor for some help.
I've been excited and nervous about this whole candy machine thing all day. Call me a
nut, but I feel like this is huge. It's his first real foray into a world with
myriad choices, any one of them which can be an excellent choice. Sometimes, the
choice between several good things can be harder than the choice between wrong
and right, because deep down you know the correct choice between good and evil -
it's the choice between good and good that has the ability to trip us up.
I can't wait until he comes home so I can find out what he picked. It won't
be the first monumental choice he makes in his life, but it's the first he's
making without mommy standing there, holding his choices out to him.
I know it's just a lost tooth and some loose change. But it's beginning of
everything - of first grade, of math tests, of training-wheel-less bikes, of not
wanting to watch only PBS anymore - even of learning how to text.
It's not easy to be six, but sometimes I think it's even harder to be the
mommy. But it's also cool to be six, and it's for sure totally cool to be the mommy.