Girl tooth fairies and boy tooth fairies

Yesterday was both a sad and proud day as a parent.

Miss K lost her first tooth. Well, she didn't lose it, we knew exactly where it was as Big C was the one to actually pop it out of her mouth.

I was surprised when he said he was going to pop it out and she agreed. 

It wasn't quite the old piece of string around the tooth and close the door scenario, but close. The two of them managed to accomplish the feat of tooth extraction with no tears or conflict.

I'm not overly squeamish, but I've been battling some sort of stomach bug as of late and the thought of watching a tooth no matter how loose pop out of my child's gums did not sit well with me.

She was super stoked about the whole thing and for that I was proud of her. Very brave and confident and excited that she was one tooth down in the move to having all of her big teeth.

She even reminded the dog how she used to pick up his baby teeth when he would drop them around the house in his teething days. I'm quite sure he did not care and/or remember any of these events but he sat and listened intently just the same.

I was a tiny bit sad too. I remember that tooth coming in about 5 years ago. Wondering how on earth nursing was going to go with that little sucker touching my tender bits. It was all OK of course.

Funny too, how you're excited that the kids are growing and learning and maturing, but sadly nostalgic for what once was. It was exciting that your kid was cutting that tooth seemingly just a few years back and now you're equally ecstatic that they are losing it.

Weird how parenthood goes. The constant push and pull of wanting them to grow up and wanting them to stay small at the same time.

It took a great part of the evening discussing and planning how indeed the tooth would be placed so that the tooth fairy could find it and potentially leave something in exchange for this pearly white nugget.

We eventually settled on in her tooth jar, with the lid off on her nightstand by the night light so that the tooth fairy could see it well and so it wouldn't disturb her while sleeping.

The fairies decided on an amount appropriate for said tooth and determined a note would be a nice added touch as Miss K was kind of emotional about losing her tooth by the end of the night.

She was awake at 4:50 am. She said she needed a drink, I call bullshit, she wanted to know if the tooth fairy left anything.

She got up at 5:30 am when I did…not having gone back to sleep, thank goodness today is a PA Day and she can have a nap at the sitters if need be.

"Mommy I need to check whether my tooth is gone" At that time in the morning she could have asked to go and check if someone took our jar of peanut butter in the middle of the night for all I cared. 

"Mommy the tooth fairy left me a message too, can you read it?" Again, done. 

From what I can tell she divulged a bunch of information about the tooth fairies of the world while I was in the shower. I could not understand a word, only that she was talking and the tail end of the conversation was the revelation that boy fairies must pick up the teeth lost by boys and the girl fairies do the teeth lost by girls. Hard to fault good logic, but again it was early in the morning.

A big milestone in her life for sure and she is revelling in it for the time being. I suspect as more and more come out it will be less of a big deal but we'll take it as it comes.

We figure the other bottom one will be gone in the next week or two, so she really can sing "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth"…

Til next time…see if you can wiggle it just a little bit…lol

There is a first time for everything

When you are young you experience many firsts. The first time you sit up, the first tooth, the first time you lose a tooth. First steps, first trips, first day of school, first boyfriend/girlfriend, first time riding a bike, first time driving. 

Needless to say I could go on with the list of firsts. Young people can experience multiple firsts in just one day. As you get older though new adventures tend to wane a bit.

Not to say that you don't have them or can't go looking for them, it's just that age and time have sucked some of the life out of "firsts" if you know what I mean.

I had a first on the weekend. I went duck hunting with Big C, Miss K and the puppy dog. I guess it was  another first, as it was the first time hunting overall, not just  the waterfowl thing. 

We had a great time. The weather was decent enough, cool wind but mostly sunny and pleasant to be outside for 5 hours straight.

Miss K was very excited. She's talked for a while about going hunting with daddy and Saturday she finally got her chance. Most days Big C goes hunting at the crack of stupid in the morning and there is no way he's going to drag her out of bed at 3 in the morning for anything but a trip to the bathroom.

I will say it takes a lot of effort to get 3 people and a dog ready for one afternoon of hunting, but we managed to get out the door a little after lunch time.

Thankfully Miss K had a wee snooze on the way to the hunt location so she was raring to go for the remainder of the afternoon.

We set up a whole lot of decoys and helped Big C with targeting in his new shotgun. Which essentially meant we stayed the hell out of the way with hearing protection on and applauding when he made a good shot.

After all the set up was done it was time to head to our layout blinds and hunker in for whatever was to come. For those who don't know what a layout blind is, think low to the ground chaise lounge with fold over camouflage doors that flip up when time to shoot. Pretty cosy when the winds are high.

We didn't even make it to our layout blinds when Big C shouted "duck!" The bird that is not the take cover action. Him and the dog made a jog to get his shotgun and we stayed put. 

The two of them managed to flush the bird, shoot it, and after a bit of a hunt get the fallen bird. Another reason to hunt with a trained retriever as Big C said there was no way he would have ever found the bird without the dog's assistance.

So Miss K was overjoyed when the two of them returned to our set up with a duck in hand. Sadly this was the only one we'd see close up on the day as the other ducks and geese had no interest in visiting our little spot in the corn field.

Miss K had tons of fun hiding in the layout blind and then coming out again. She was a huge help when it came to packing everything up and never once did she say she was tired, or bored or wanted to go home. She didn't ask to watch TV, play on an iPad or wish for her toys. She was content to be outside with us and enjoy the happenings of the day.

I'm still not sure about the whole hunting experience. But I didn't grow up in that environment either. My biggest hunt was where the chicken for dinner might be hiding in the freezer.

I see the excitement and thrill of it a little bit. I suppose if push came to shove and I needed to do so for survival I probably could attempt it. 

For now, I'm content to leave Big C to partake of something he loves mostly by himself. Will there be times that we all go out again… I think so. Do I need to gear up and learn how to shoot things myself?  Not likely. In fact we're probably all better off if I just stay at home and cook whatever the men folk return with. 

It was great being outdoors, great being with the whole family doing something together for the afternoon and taking part in something so near and dear to Big C's heart. For that I will be always grateful, but tracking down wild game for a full time hobby is not in my future

Til next time…I hope you got to spend some quality time with those people that you hold dear to your heart and maybe attempt your very own new "first".

10 months down and another Hallowe'en dance done

The eleventh month of the year has arrived. I'm still not exactly clear where the first 10 months of 2015 have gone, but they are now in the past and we have about 50 days or so until a new year begins. Wow.

Hallowe'en has come and gone. It is not an event I like or dislike. I'm pretty neutral on it overall. I have some sort of inner moral dilemma with kids going door to door asking for treats from people they don't know when current times and school teachings warn of stranger danger. I do enjoy the decorations and the inventive and creative costumes that do come out. I'm mean who doesn't enjoy being something they're not?

Miss K got through the weekend, pretty well. She's had a bit of a cold that she says has been trying to catch her for a while, or she's trying to catch it. Scratchy throats and sore ears are remedied with some drugs so she was fit for Hallowe'en dances and things like that.

I have written before of Miss K's introverted and cautious style. Put her in a room of people she knows well and she is as gregarious and talkative as most kids. Stick her in a room with a lot of noisy and rambunctious kids and she is totally out of her element, not to mention quiet as a church mouse.

She glowed at the thought of attending the Halloween dance again this year. Being a SK, it was going to be so much cooler than last year she said. I figured it was because she knew the drill and it wouldn't be an unfamiliar situation.

Miss K did awesome from the time we hit the door to the school until we hit the gym, then it was a different story.

Before we got to where the "dance" was, she chatted with her teacher, said hi to school mates etc… but then the influx of stimuli happened and she shut down.

We even had tears, big crocodile ones. 

The gym was loud, sort of dark and filled with about 100 kids that could only be described as on some sort of sugar rush and it kind of resembled a roomful of chipmunks on speed. Super cute, but kinda scary.

I was right there by her side. I draw the line in settings like that with clinging to my leg and there is no reason whatsoever not to speak to people you know, but aside from those things, I let her do things at her own speed.

She's not an unpopular kid from what I can tell. Judging by the number of kids that repeatedly came over to say hi and/or try to get her to join in the pit of chipmunk frenzy I gather she is not a social outcast at school. Popular but in her own quiet way I'm guessing.

It was at least 40 minutes before she would venture an arm's length away from me. It broke my heart and made me so proud all in the same night.

I see so much of her dad and I in her. Totally in our element if we know the surroundings and people, not so much when the situation is bigger and less familiar.

You grow frustrated when you see that she is accepted by her friends, but always wonder in the back of your mind how long will they keep coming back if she keeps being so reserved?

I suppose there are always other kids out there that will identify with that and they'll become the close friends. I mean really how many of us still have friends that we had in elementary school?

There was one little girl at the dance that was a bit more outgoing than Miss K, but still stuck close to things she knew. Those two kind of hung out and shared probably more in common than their Elsa princess dresses.

It pains you as a parent to see your kid clam up and be so anxious. You want for them to be at ease in any situation.

But on the flip side you can see why they're not. Miss K shares my introversion, maybe not in the same way but I have no love for large crowds or worse yet small talk with people I don't know well.

I was very proud of her though. She seems like the kind of kid I would have gravitated towards at school or in social situations. 

She is not the over the top in your face kid that you really would just take a chill pill or go back to whatever wild and bold place they came from, but rather the fun loving one that just takes a bit to get to know.

Miss K wanted to go to that dance. I suspect she even knew at the tender age of five that it was going to be a tricky thing for her on a social level, but she fought through it just the same.

She needs to do things at her own speed and in her own way. Which I hope will bode well for her future.

I pray she is the kid that is able to think for herself and not do what the others are doing just because they are doing it. 

I applaud her quiet but genuine personality and wish that for her sake she can stand tough and be the kind of person that you want to be around.

I know I sure do.

Til next time…enjoy your mini chocolate bar hangover