A Mother’s Growing Pains
(this picture has been cropped for J.’s security and protection)
Yes it has been an exciting day at our house! My six year old lost his first tooth!!! Now it didn’t happen all on its own, mind you… He has been wiggling it and wiggling it for more than a week now. Most of his friends have all lost at least one tooth. He so wanted to get a visit from the tooth fairy too! He longed for that experience. In his mind, losing a tooth meant that he was growing up. And it is… He was sooo excited! He ran into the kitchen this morning before church…”Mom, mom!”, he said out of breath…”Look, look! My tooth came out!” “I was just giving it a final little wiggle and it came out in my hand. See?” He proudly displayed the bloody tooth and the bloody hole in his mouth.
My heart went into my throat, because for me it also means he is growing up. My baby is growing up! I remember when he was up all night because of the pain of teething and now he is trying to lose them! Not only is he trying…HE LOST HIS FIRST ONE!!! (tears) I held him in my arms and started to cry tears of joy. Then he pulled out of my arms and said….”Mom, we have to call Will.” “Come on mom…call him!” We had to share his special news! It was a very special new family moment for all of us.
So I guess today I was the one feeling the mother growing pains….I was happy for him but in a bittersweet way. I will miss these years…the baby, toddler, just starting school…I need my mommy years. I was in awe really. He has grown and changed so much over the years. But I realize that today we started a new stage of his life. I know that as he is beginning this new phase of his childhood I am beginning a new phase of my life as well…instead of being the holder of him I am being held by the loving, strong arms of William when I need him. I am creating new memories in my life too.
So we put his tooth in an envelope so he wouldn’t lose it. (He dropped it and lost it once when he first showed it to me). Tonight before bed…we wrote on the envelope…. J.’s first tooth…11/8/09. Thank you tooth fairy! I will keep you posted on what the tooth fairy leaves him.
Today at church I celebrated and thanked God for giving me the blessing of being J.’s mom. There are many days when that role is very difficult. But today I realized how much I still love being mom and am looking forward to whatever comes next in his journey….I asked God to help me to treasure even the difficult days. And God reminded me that I am no longer alone in all of this…and that is SO true. You have no idea how wonderful it is to have Will just a phone call away.
It really made me think about my time with M. He is almost nineteen months old now and thinks he is at least two…and lets you know it everyday! It reminded me to treasure everyday even the difficult days. And so no matter what our moods or how trying the times are…I am continuing to work hard to create beautiful memories…but I realize that some of the best memories are the unexpected interruptions of life that just happen ….like J. bringing me his tooth in his hand while I am finishing getting ready for church.
