It wasn't a shock. It has been loose ever since we got back from our Christmas vacation. He has wiggled it and wiggled it. I decided to share with him my favorite technique for pulling a tooth. You know, the whole tie a string around the tooth and the other end around a doorknob and slam the door technique. You know you tried it when you were a kid...or at least thought about it! I shared this with a chuckle because Ian is NOT the one you would expect to do this. He would not choose to inflict pain on himself. He lost his first tooth while eating. He wasn't trying to lose it...it just happened. So, imagine my shock when his response was, "Okay, let's try it!" I just stared at him. Was he serious?
He was!!! He ran and got some dental floss and we proceeded to tie up his tooth. The he started to question.
"Does it hurt?" he wanted to know.
"Maybe for just a second and then it is all over with." I answered.
I thought for sure he was going to back out after thinking about the discomfort that this might bring. But he didn't we tied up the tooth, tied the other end to the door and he closed his eyes as I prepared to shut the door. "One, two, THREE!" I said, and slammed the door.
Let me just say, I don't think that dental floss is the appropriate tooth pulling string. It slid right off of his tooth. We tried a couple more times with no success!
After the third try, he grabbed ahold of it with his own little fingers and just started pulling. I was amazed! He made a coupld sounds of discomfort, but never stopped pulling! Finally, he popped that little sucker out! He was pretty proud. I think I was even more proud of him than he was of himself.
It isn't that I want my son to inflict pain upon himself on a regular basis. But, I do think there is something to be said about dealing with a little pain to get to a goal. He did just that! And then promptly shared his goal with me...the tooth fairy, of course!
The tooth fairy. That is such a tricky topic, isn't it? He got $2 for his first tooth. My mom gave him the idea that he would get more because it was his first tooth and maybe even some extra because Daddy was gone. (I am still not really sure what that had to do with it, but it made sense in Ian's little brain!) Well, no big surprise, Daddy was gone for this one too! So, was this going to cost me more again?
I asked him how much he thought he was going to get and was so sweetly surprised with his response. He told me, "Maybe this time I will get a quarter!" (Truthfully, he was EXCITED about a quarter!) " A coin would be good!" he told me.
Something in me was not satisfied with a single quarter. So he got four. Four quarters. And as I write, I can hear him plunking the quarters into his bank. It may not buy him his next lego set, but he sure earned it!
As I finish this post I am wondering. Is it crazy that I think this is such a big deal? At what point is it no big thing that he has lost a tooth. I suppose it will be sort of like when he got his first teeth when he was nine months old (which are the first ones that he has lost.) I can tell you the first several teeth that came into his mouth, but then I lose track. I suppose it will be somewhat the same way when I look at his mouth 6 years from now. I won't remember exactly what order they came out. I am glad we are excited about it now, but I can' help but think about what we will get excited about in the years to come.
OH, the adventures of parenthood! I LOVE IT!
1 comment:
So sweet! I remember one of my dad's business associates offering the door trick for pulling a tooth. Needless to say, I did NOT take him up on that offer and I can honestly say I never tried that method!
I got a little teary eyed near the end of the post - I mean Hannah still hasn't gotten all of her teeth and I'm already thinking about her losing them. My motto: treasure each moment for they pass far too quickly! Right now we are trying to treasure the ear infection. It does come with lots of cuddle time; too bad the cuddle time equals added heat from a temperature. Oh well, I'll take what I can get!
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