A little loss of Magic

The Tooth Fairy. My daughter could not wait for her visit from the Tooth fairy last night, and spent most of the night anxiously waiting. Waiting and not sleeping.

She has been trying to wiggle her front teeth ever since she saw her big sister do it , and now my baby, Jules, has lost her first tooth.

When I lost my teeth at the ripe young age of 5-6 years, I enjoyed wiggling them. It would gross my mom out, and my Dad, well, all he wanted to do was pull it out for me. As the tooth became loose, He would say, “Here, let me pull it out for you, Oh please, let me pull it out, you won’t feel anything.”

I looked at his big thumb and index finger and quickly thought of this logically Big fingers in my little mouth. Not feel a thing? Right.

“C’mon, it’s just hanging by a thread; It’ll just be a second.”

I wiggled my tooth. I looked at my Dad, anxious to rid me of it, and thought about the thick coin that would be under my pillow in the morning that I could use to score serious penny candy from the corner store. And gave in. There was some pressure, a small crunch, and then a gush of blood and saliva filled my mouth. Dad replaced his fingers with a wad of tissue, my Mom looked as if she’d hurl at any second. I still remember the taste of that wet wad, and it makes me ill.

So when Gem was about to loose her first tooth, I was bound and determined that Carpenter would deal with it at the appropriate time. I’d never pull it out for her. I didn’t have the stomach for it.

When the little tooth began to wiggle, Gem wiggled it furiously. Then one night with our neighbours over for supper, the boy, Dec, decided to help it along. He carefully wrapped his fingers in paper towel, commanded Gem to “Open Wide” and proceeded to try to pull the tooth out. When he did not succeed, he asked if he could try again. Gem nodded. After all ,she wanted that tooth out , so she could collect on that Tooth Fairy. Once again, he commanded “Open Wide” and struggled with the stubborn tooth.

From my dining room table I watched in horror , this continue for a few minutes. I downed my near full glass of wine in one gulp and decided to intervene. Carpenter asked if I wanted a refill and I nodded. I would need something to quell the sick feeling growing in the pit of my stomach.

Dec caught my eye as I crossed the room, and confessed, “It just won’t come out, I don’t think it’s ready.”

Gem said, “But it’s loose, Mummy, I can wiggle it, I want it out. I can’t pull it out by myself.”

“I don’t think it’s ready. But it will come out when it’s ready to. I promise.”

And it did. When it was loose enough, Gem pulled it out all by herself. And proudly showed it to me while holding a blood soaked tissue in her mouth. My stomach churned. And I kissed my sweet little girl. “You are so brave,” I told her, “Mommy could never do that.”

It’s true, I couldn’t.

So when it was Jules’ turn, she proudly showed me her new wiggly tooth, the morning she discovered it. And the pride continued at school, showing everyone.

This weekend she showed her cousins, and then Grandpa, who said, “Oh, Jules, let me pull that out for you, It’s hanging by a thread, you won’t feel anything.”

But the tooth was not quite ready. Then, while she played with the neighborhood kids last night, she pulled the tooth out her self. She came running home, seven other children in tow. Screaming, “MOMMY, MOMMY, I JUST PULLED OUT MY OWN TOOTH! LOOK! SEE!”

I was impressed, very impressed. I hugged her and took the little tooth from her, placed it in a safe place for later. It was at this moment, I saw the definite trait of my husband in my girl, who still loved being a princess. There is no way, I’d ever pull out my own tooth. I’d have fainted first.

Jules carefully wrapped and re-wrapped her tooth for the Tooth Fairy. She was so excited. She boasted to her sister how the Tooth Fairy would leave her money.

Gem just rolled her eyes. Then she pulled me aside, and said, “Mommy, I have to ask you a question, and I want you to tell me the truth. Are you the Tooth Fairy?”

I looked in my daughter’s big brown eyes, and the seriousness of her face. She had earlier this year, figured out the truth about Santa, thanks to the recycling bag. I decided to come clean. Although apart of me didn’t want to. I had one girl, who was smart enough to figure out the physical impossibilities of reindeer flying, due in part to all the hunting videos she’s watched with her Dad, and thus making the link, to the Tooth Fairy. My other daughter was still willing to believe in that little bit of magic. For how long, I don’t know, but I do know that her smile, like her older sister’s, is changing forever, from a cute little baby smile, to a little girls’, and now onward to a young lady’s.