The Tooth: Part 2

This porcelain fang dangled front and center for days. DAYS!

I've already told you I'm "off" when it comes to these things. Now keep reading, and feel free to judge quietly.

This thing held on for dear life from one little strand of root, and all I could do was stare at it each time my son came near. Levi would whistle his words around that ridiculous front tooth, and it just begged to be pulled. I could not look my son in the eyes, only straight in that front tooth. It stared back.

Now, you are probably thinking I yanked this tooth out. That I'm the parent that held my child down and just ended the misery. Nope!

No judgement if this has been you. I can definitely see the appeal. However, this would not fly with Levi. Levi never forgets. He recalls situations from when he was two with great detail. His favorite phrase is, "Do you remember that day when..." and he is not making anything up.

So when I take action with Levi, I always have to consider the long-term and how it will impact trust. It's a heavy thing to consider with a 6-year-old.

I may not have tried to take this tooth out, but this kid challenged the tooth's grip a multitude of ways. Levi tore into all kinds of food, brushed his teeth quite vigorously, wrestled with his brother (took a kick to the mouth -- it did nothing!), and even face-slammed into our trampoline.

OH YES. Levi face-slammed into our trampoline. He was running outside, tripped (because he is six and has the grace of a crouton), and decided to catch his whole body with his face on the edge of the trampoline.

No teeth were lost in this incident. In fact, thank the Lord no major injuries occurred at all from this. This is definitely not the ideal time to be visiting the hospital for random bumps and breaks.

After this fall, I was checking Levi over, and the tooth was glaring back at me in all it's pearly glory... I was convinced that this was my new normal. This was how life was to be from this day forward. Levi would be in his 40's and still have a strange, straggly baby tooth clinging to his front gums. And I would forget what the rest of his face looks like.

But not so.

I was working remotely, headset to ear and eyes glued to a computer, when I heard a gentle knocking on my door. My husband peaked in to see if he could bring me some good news. Levi and Amos came running in to show me the prize.

An incredibly tiny speck in a plastic bag. Because that's what baby teeth always end up looking like once they are out of a kid's mouth. They seem so impossibly small. How could this tiny tooth have chewed or bitten into anything?

But bite it did.

Levi and Amos were talking over each other, in a rush to both let me know the tooth was finally out. My husband encouraged Levi to let me know just how that tooth finally worked itself out...

Levi smiled, "Oh, I uh, I just bite Amos. And it came out!"

"You what?"

Amos shook his hands in the air, all happy for his brother, "YAY!!"

And just like that, no more baby tooth.

#babyteeth #kidquotes #boymom #teeth #parenting