It's been "happening" for a few months now. Really! (Or at least it feels that way!) She's been telling me that it's "wobbly" for quite some time and we'd have the little obligatory wiggle followed by Mum saying, "No, it's not quite there yet." (Knowing it still had ages until it would be in any danger of falling out.)
And then... last week.... it started wiggling like it meant it.
I'd look at her and she'd smile at me and the tooth wouldn't be in the same position it was the last time she smiled at me. It was definitely playing with my mind.
Most mornings this week, I would drop her off thinking, "This is the day." Wednesday I even took the teacher's assistant aside and dropped a little bug in her ear. The school day passed without a phone call, so I figured that either it was out and she was fine.... or it was waiting for me.
So, she arrives at WOW! and sure enough the tooth is still there. Shifting every which way whenever she opened her mouth. I started wincing when she spoke, sure that I was going to catch a glimpse of it tormenting me. Since I was heavily involved in the lesson/skit portion of it and Gran wasn't there (she's been starting to come up Wednesdays instead of Thursdays in order to free me up a bit during WOW!) I warned a few of the other staff members to keep an eye out. Mentioning to one, that knowing the way things work.... it will fall out at the most inconvenient time possible.
It sure tried. At one point in the middle of the skit, I looked out at all the kids and saw Kate looking panicked with a tissue to her mouth. When it was finished, I found out it was a false alarm.... but I knew it was showing me who was in control of the situation.
Which was why when we got home, I took her upstairs to the bathroom and took a good look at it. It was like a cat flap in her line of pearly whites. Not hanging by a thread, but hinged on the back edge of the tooth. I kept waiting for Jerry the Mouse to come bursting out or some Looney Tunes critter. I looked her in the eye and said. "It's time." She smiled, giggled, and closed her eyes.
And then, I yanked it out.
There was blood. There were tears. (And truth be told, there was a bit of a sweat on my brow.) But that offensive piece of enamel would mock me no more.
Of course, I did notice that his partner wasn't in much better shape. I suspect it was using the first one as support and it began wobbling for all it was worth. There had been enough trauma and drama this day however and this culprit was safe... for now.
Fast forward to Friday.
It's Sports Day at school! (How could I have forgotten!)
This year they decided to try something a little different and instead of the normal stations and moving from station to station in teams. Because of the World Cup, they decided to play football (translation: soccer). They broke Years 1 - 3 up into teams with kids of varying ages on each team and had a little play off and did the same with Years 4 - 6.
I figured Kate would be fine with this.... come on now! She has Mini-Strikers (Football/Soccer Club) after school on Thursdays. She always seems to be having a good time! Okay, so they never really play a proper game of football/soccer. They play lots of little games that are meant to improve their football/soccer skills.
Yes, yes... I live in hope.
So, Kate on the football pitch is similar to... well, Lucy on the baseball field (or me for that matter) or even me hunting with Uncle Joe. (Me: *pointing down the field as we're walking along* Hey! There goes one! (rabbit))
She is in her own world most of the time. Trying to see what kind of weird and interesting positions her body can manage. Chewing her nails. Watching impassively as the ball rolls past her....
Her team was .... the Netherlands.
Kate warming up....
Guess where the ball is??
Doing some between game agility exercises....
Team pep talk!
Game 2: (They won their first game 1-0.)
A little stretch....
Hey! Look everyone! I have.... a leg!!
Dad stopped by to watch.
Game 3: (They lost their second game 2-1... the other team cheated! This was for the third place position.)
Can't let those muscles get tight!
Can you spot Kate?
Making a wall to defend against a free kick. Where's the loose brick? (The ball didn't get through....)
I'll watch from here.....
Mom, please... you're worse than the paparazzi...
They won the game on penalty shots.... strangely enough, Kate wasn't one of the ones jumping up and down to take one.
And when it was all over.... this is probably what she would have preferred to be doing all along....
I managed to get one shot of her "in action." Keep in mind... I think there is a little bit of hero worship going on for the boy running for the ball.
And when it was all over, they were all given ice lollies (translation: popsicles) and sat in the shade to clap and cheer for each other.
And then I saw it....
The look of panic.
And I just knew.....
I quietly asked Lucy's mom, Jude, if she had a tissue. She offered me a wipe, thinking that I was about to clean off the stickiness that had dribbled down her. "No," I informed her. "I think someone is about to lose another tooth."
The parents seemed to freeze in place and watch in fascinated horror as I went to Kate to assess the situation. Tears were already sliding out the corners of her eyes and she held up her bloody popsicle for me to inspect. I wiped them away and took a look.
Gave it a wiggle.
Smiled are her reassuringly.
"You ready," I asked.
Poor, brave bunny. She nodded her head.
And out it came.
We are now legends on the playground and Kate can sing "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth" and mean it!
And that's all she wrote!
1 comment:
That's awesome. She is so brave! I keep hoping to get a call from my sister that Little Girl lost one while up north visiting her, but no such luck, yet. Give Kate a BIG hug from me in FL and tell her how proud of her I am. I know Little Girl wouldn't have handled it so well.
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