Charlotte's First Visit from the Tooth Fairy

 

The tooth's been turned to a shining stone,
A glimmering, glowing gem
The tooth Fairy takes the gnomes' good gift,
And curtsies to all of them.
Before the sun's first rays are shown,
She returns to Charlotte's bed,
And then.......away she's flown!

It's been a busy few days. With the end of the Christmas season this past Sunday we welcomed our birthday season. Charlotte's birthday is first in the year, she turned five years old yesterday. The switch to five years is always bittersweet for me. There are some really big shifts that I've noticed that happen in my children; growth spurts, academic readiness, more independence, learning new things like tying their shoes and of course........losing their first tooth! My two older children lost their first tooth closer to their sixth birthday so you'd probably guess I was quite surprised when Charlotte came to me a few weeks ago having discovered she had quite a loose tooth!! I was pretty darn shocked! She seemed so young, yet! Don't get me wrong, Charlotte is very independent and bold and capable!  Emotionally, she's right where she should be so the idea of losing her tooth was a very frightening thought! She didn't want her tooth to fall out, she loved that little baby tooth. She was afraid it would hurt, that there would be a big hole in her mouth, that somehow something more would be missing then just a tooth!

I knew in my heart her little tooth would come out on her birthday. I tried to let it go as much as I was able, I didn't bring up her loose tooth at all and only discussed it when she brought it up. I would casually answer her questions and do my best to comfort her fears and make light of the situation. I thought we'd done a good job when she finally started getting a wee bit "excited" about losing her tooth! Much to my surprise, on her birthday, she woke up and was absolutely inconsolable at
 the idea that her tooth was absolutely coming out! There was no way to change that it wouldn't stick back in and we could forget the whole thing!! Most of her day was spent crying and fighting the whole process. At one point I asked if she'd like to open one of her gifts to help ease the concern. We had found a very special book called The Story of the Tooth Fairy. It tells a lovely story of how the tooth fairy came to be......and she loved it! *phew* She loved it for about ten minutes!!! It was a good try, anyway.

Needless to say, her fifth birthday was spent mostly in tears. We had lots of snuggles and kisses. Lots of deliberation and discussion on how to best move this process along or leave it! Then, finally, after everyone went home Charlotte and her older sister Bella disappeared into the bathroom. I went in to take a peek and Charlotte, with tired and emotionally distraught eyes, looked up at me and said, OK Mom.......just take it out!!! Much to my dismay, I knew I couldn't waver. I had never done such a thing nor had I ever wished to. Wiggly teeth make me squeamish. My older two were never emotionally attached to their teeth and always just worked it through on their own, with me cheering them on from the sidelines!

So, I took a deep breath, wrapped my fingers in a washcloth, she opened her mouth, and as soon as I saw her eyes soften and relax in her trust in me........pop! It came out! No tears, no pain......the tooth came out! She sighed with great relief (as did I) and couldn't wait to put her teeny, tiny little baby tooth in her tooth pouch!

 

With much joy and anticipation, Charlotte woke up this morning to find beautiful gold coins (even one from the Philippines as a token of the tooth fairy's global travels!!) and a little bead. Since Charlotte had initially thought she'd like the tooth fairy to leave her tooth behind (but then changed her mind when it finally came out) the tooth fairy left her a bead in it's place. Charlotte will receive a bead for every tooth that she loses from here on out. We will keep these beads in a safe spot and on that day, many years from now, when Charlotte loses her last tooth, we will leave the beads under her pillow with her last little tooth and when she wakes the next day she will find a gift made for her from all the beads she's collected over the years.