Life Flies By

It's Mother's Day. That means it's May. That means that Carter has less than 1 month left of Kindergarten. It also means that Will has one last day of Mom's-Day-Out. That means Carter will be officially a "rising" 1st grader. And Will is almost 3 pre-K. Where has the time gone? Why does it feel like time is whooooshing by as I stand still? I suppose that is the curse of being a mother: watching those little people you used to cradle in the crook of your arm transform - in what seems like a blink- into a reading, teeth-losing, big kid.

Carter lost his first tooth. It was, of course, tramatic. Nathan took us out to eat on Tax Day and as we sat in the booth discussing the crazy decorations on the wall, Carter used his tongue to push his tooth back and forth. The poor little thing was clearly hanging by a thread. I asked him to let me pull it. He almost consented but I let him back out since I didn't really want him to lose his first tooth in TGI Friday's. I warned him, though, that it would be a miracle if that tooth made it through supper. Surprisingly, it did. He also shocked me by pointing up on the wall and saying "that says kitchen." I asked him how he knew that and he said "I just read it." He just read it, of course. So after supper, it was off to Maggie Moos for some ice cream for Nathan and Carter. Since Will had his special ice cream in the car and I didn't want any, he and I waited in the van. As Carter sat down, I noticed there was a bigger gap in the bottom of his mouth. I asked him "Carter! Where is your tooth?" Nathan quickly checked him. Sure, enough, it was gone.

Well, this caused all manner of panic and anxiety. First, it was no where to be found. Had he swallowed it? Was it on the floor or on the sidewalk or in his cone? Next Carter began to ask questions like "will the tooth fairy even come if I don't have the tooth?" I reassured him that she would but probably not that night since the tooth fairy has to have 24 hours notice. See, she makes our her route by 5 p.m. and anything after that is probably not going to get in her run. That made good sense to him. I told him I would look it up on the internet about what he should do. After some "research", we decided that the best procedure was for him to make a card for the tooth fairy explaining his dilemma. He did so, and even drew and cut out "tooth" to replace the real one. Of course, all this took a couple of days and he finally got it under his pillow on a Friday night.

A good tooth fairy would go in early and make the swap while it's still dark. Unfortunately, our tooth fairy kind of forgot - only to wake up panic stricken Saturday morning. Luckily for her, Carter was still sleeping and so was Will. She grabbed her two golden Presidential dollars and carefully tip-toed up the stairs, trying to hit all the non-creaky spots. She sneaked in to his room as he lay quietly sleeping. She stuck her hand under his pillow in an effort to retrieve the card and "tooth." He began to stir! Silent panic. She froze momentarily. ARG! If only it was dark out. After 3 seconds of freezing, she ducked down at the end of his bed behind a huge dragon hoping if he opened his eyes he wouldn't detect her. He continued to sleep. Her muscles relaxed as she peered out his open door through Will's open door. It was dangerously close to Will's waking time and that would be the last thing this Tooth Fairy needed.

Again, she gently slipped her arm under his pillow. His breath caught and he shifted his position. More panic. The Tooth Fairy gently stuck the coins under the pillow along with a note she wrote to him and dashed down the stairs as quickly as possible. Mr. Tooth Fairy was waiting and got the full report. But the tooth fairy was unsatisfied by having to leave the card and substitute tooth. She was determined to try again. So, once more she tip-toed up the stairs, crept into his room, and ever so delicately maneuvered her arm under his pillow. WHERE WAS THIS CARD? It must have been placed exactly under his 20 pound head. Well, it felt that heavy to the tooth fairy. Again, he stirred and she bolted back down the stairs to fairyland. After consultation with Mr. Tooth Fairy, it was agreed that his items would just have to be left to protect their secret fairy identity.

Not 5 minutes after the tooth fairy winged her way into the sunrise, Carter woke up. His room is directly over ours. We heard feet hit the floor. We noticed a measured pause and then light foot steps over to the stairs and down them. He came into our room and was somewhat pleased with his gold, but it was clear he was disappointed the tooth fairy didn't take his card. Luckily, the internet research had prepared him for such a circumstance as it said that sometimes the Tooth Fairy cannot take extraneous items with her - depending where you land on her route and how much room she has left in her pouch. He was, however, pleased with the note she left him. Clearly, she had read his note.

The Tooth Fairy business is tough work and she should definitely be receiving hazardous pay.