The Tooth Fairy Stole my Baby

I was so excited when Wilson lost his first tooth. He was in Kindergarten and had just turned 6 years old.  I remember thinking how excited we had been when that tiny bottom tooth had finally broken through his swollen little gums. He was about six months old and that little tooth made him look so adorable.  Now, it was gone.  There hadn't been any drama about pulling it out. He just wiggled that tooth until it was loose enough to pull and then there it was, in a little treasure box the school nurse had given him. He was so excited that his name was going up on the "Look Who Lost a Tooth" board in his classroom and I was excited about this milestone and his first visit from the Tooth Fairy.  After that, his teeth started to fall out quicker than I could keep up with. Within a year, he had lost 7 of his baby teeth and his adult teeth were quickly coming in.

Then, the other night as I tucked him into bed, I realized the Tooth Fairy hadn't just been taking the teeth and leaving the money, she had taken my baby and left me a boy.  Gone was the baby who chewed on  frozen teething rings. Gone was the toddler who could finally bite into a cookie.  Gone was the little boy who picked a green rubber lizzard out of the prize box at his first dentist visit.  He was gone and in his place was is this amazing boy. A boy who no longer needed a pacifier but now needed a mouth piece (attached to a football helmet)! A boy who no longer takes baths but showers.  A boy who listens to music on his iPod and sits through non-animated movies without squirming and talking.  A boy who loves to read and draw and write stories.  I love the boy he has become. I love the baseball games, the video games and the wrestling obsession. I love funny things he says and his goofy sense of humor.  I love everything he is and everything he is becoming.

It is all going by so quickly. Everyone says that children grow up in the blink of an eye and I am learning that this is true.

Sometimes when we are leaving school, Wilson will reach out and take my hand as we walk to the car.  I slow my pace, knowing that when we cross that parking lot and reach the car, he is going to let go. And too soon, the boy who holds my hand will be gone.  These precious moments that I have today will be lost as quickly and surely as those baby teeth.