Mourning Teeth

So sad to think that I will never see this sweet baby tooth smile again. My baby boy no longer has front teeth. I know he's not a baby anymore but he will always be my baby. And I guess what I'm really mourning is not the loss of his teeth but what it represents, he's growing up. Before kids, I always heard mother's say "it goes by so fast" I never understood what they meant by this. Until most recently, it's hit me I no longer have babies and my oldest is no longer a toddler but really a young boy. When I sit back to think about the time that has gone by and how they're growing up, it all seems so surreal, a feeling of "where did the time go" and now I fully understand what it means when you hear a mom say "they grow up so fast". Yes, I'm mourning the loss of my babies as well as the loss of Aidan's baby teeth. His teeth is just one more indicator of how he's growing up.

Let me add that they didn't fall out naturally. While I know this would have happened naturally at some point the fact that they had to pull them made it that much more difficult. Aidan had 3 adult front teeth coming in, one smack in the middle. The dentist as well as the oral surgeon agreed that the extra needed to be removed so it wouldn't interfere with his others coming in. What that meant was oral surgery. As I was worried sick about it, all Aidan could think about was how great it's going to be to finally be on the tooth board in class and just think what the tooth fairy is going to bring him. In his words, "Not just 1 tooth but 3!"

Although no mother wants to see there child agonizing over discomfort or pain it was a reminder to me that my boys will always be my babies. Even though they are growing up, being a mom means being there to comfort your child and reassure them that everything is going to be ok.