June 18, 2009

Teething troubles once again!!

Who said teething troubles are over once your child is 3 yrs old !! My daughter is 6 now and is about to lose her first milk tooth.

She woke up one morning and complained of a toothache while brushing. I dreaded the thought of taking her to a dentist. To my relief, I noticed that a new tooth was coming and one of her front teeth was slightly moving. I told her stories of tooth fairies like most of the parents do, but she dint seem to be convinced. She spent quite some time in front of the mirror checking at various angles and she definitely wasn’t happy at the prospect of going to school with a missing tooth. Then I explained that it was natural for everyone to lose their teeth and get good ones. I gave her examples of her cousins who were toothless for quite some time before they had a new set of teeth.

I thought this was a passing phase and the concern is definitely more for the first tooth. Little did I realize that my troubles are far from over.

Three days passed and the tooth held on. She reduced her intake of solid foods. She had nightmares about swallowing her tooth while sleeping. She dreamt about tooth fairy putting in loads of coins under her pillow. She woke up every morning to check the progress. She brushes gingerly lest her tooth would come away with the brush.

Then lightening struck and she demanded more chocolates. I started to give her the usual lecture about getting bad teeth, etc. She gave me a know-it-all look and said, “It doesn’t matter, Mummy. I can ruin my old teeth. They will fall off soon and I will get a new set of white teeth. Then I can stop eating chocolates”.

I was speechless. I still wait for the day her tooth is out and we can go about our usual business.