Thirty Days- Day Two- The Tooth Does Not Exist

Tooth be or not tooth be...that is the question. (And this is why Bryce does not blog. Just had to put that out there!)

Now, we're talking about a tooth, right? Here she is, in all her glory, tooth #6!

Oh yah, the tooth! So Piper pulled out a loose tooth the other day; Halloween, matter of fact. I can't do that stuff. It grosses me out. But she does it and she does it well. Leave her be and it will come out. I was excited for her and asked her if she was excited for the Tooth Fairy to come. She said, "Yes, but I'll bet all I get is a dollar." (This said in a gee-thats-really-nice voice.) "Oh, okay, so I guess you wouldn't care if the Tooth Fairy doesn't come." "No, I still want her to." That sounded convincing, right? Right.

To me, this is the beginning of the end. The tooth does not exist. What does that mean exactly? Well, it means exactly that. The tooth is here, but in this "fairy world" it does not exist. It is not taken by a winged creature who spirits it off into whatever container she keeps them in. The real tooth will be thrown out in secret and it will never be again. It will simply not exist.

I liken this to Piper growing up. My sweet Piper is slowly not existing. She's still sweet, oh, so sweet.

Oh, Piper D....I feel like every day I look at her she is becoming someone else. That's because she is; she's growing up. Where is Tinkerbell with her pixie dust so I can fly Piper away to Neverland where she'll always remain a little girl?

She pointed out the second star to me the other night and said, "I can see it, Mom! I can see Neverland. Do you think it is really out there?" My heart wanted to tell her yes, but because I'm not ready to break her heart, I said I didn't know and that I like to think that it is. Such innocence is lost when illusions become shattered.

I just had this discussion with a friends of mine the same day Piper lost her tooth. I was sad because Piper has reached the age of reason. The other day, she was instructed not to go outside while I was in the shower. She disobeyed and I had to speak to her about why what she did was dangerous. I explained to her that the world is not a pretty place. Mama & Daddy will keep them as safe as we can, but the minute she steps outside, she's at the mercy of the world. I hated telling her that. I hate that one day she's going to know what real pain and sadness is.

I'm sure every parent goes through this (maybe just moms since we're super emotional); the heartache of the child letting go of your hand, going out on their own, moving out, getting married, having kids. The cycle continues. It's not fun, but didn't I just say last night that this is life?

But, since I don't like to dwell on it, I will include this lovely picture of Piper doing some copying for handwriting the other day that puts a smile on my face.