First Lost Tooth

Alana lost her first tooth yesterday. 

And I wasn’t ready for it. 

Though she’s been saying for the last 2 weeks her tooth is “wiggly” I wasn’t prepared for her holding her hand to her little mouth as I sat draped over the blue chair that’s become synonymous with all-day TV binges of late. (I’m neither proud nor ashamed to admit that).

And as she clutched her mouth, hiding whatever toothless grin lay beneath she told me her “tooth fell out” I immediately thought it was a prank.

Only a few years prior hadn’t her older sister tried to extort the tooth fairy with playdough creations and soppy white paper towels crafted into look-alike teeth? Nestled beneath her pillow awaiting some payday that the fairy never delivered on, I had become accustomed to all the ways Sayler could negotiate or lovingly, and without malice, con someone out of their loose change or a five dollar bill because she had done a chore that she should have been doing anyway. 

And here she was- that older sister turned partner-in-scheme closely following her baby sister to deliver the news to me. Practically attached to one another as they made a beeline for me and the remote control I’d had affixed to my palm, I was sus.

So I heaved a small sigh- begrudgingly pausing whatever TV show I had on- and held out my hand.

And there she put it. That one first lost tooth.

I cheered and smiled. I was joyous! This was a momentous occasion and when I lit up the timid toothless child smiled wide in equal joy.

She leaned in to give me a kiss and gently- so gently- planted her lips against mine. As she pulled away she asked “can I still give you kisses?”

To which I assured her she could. 

Later last night I cried. The newness of the milestone had passed. The tooth was placed in a baggie, placed strategically beneath her pillow, and without fuss or fight she peacefully went to sleep, excited for the tooth fairy’s visit. 

And I wallowed a while in the sadness of my baby not being quite a baby anymore. 

The tooth fairy delivered and Alana could not have been more delighted. She showed me the $2 and the due dum the visitor had left under her pillow. And she shared that she even saw the infamous Tooth Fairy, which is quite a treat because I haven’t yet seen her. (Is it even a “her”?)

I’m going to go ahead and guess that yes, It’s a her. 

Photo: pre-tooth-loss