Believe!

Madison lost her first tooth this morning.  Like literally lost it.  Seriously, I can’t make this stuff up.  The first loose tooth is a big deal in the world of Parenthood.  It comes with all different emotions.  Excitement for the child for experiencing the Tooth Fairy.  Heartache as you realize it is just another sign of the passing years, of the child no longer being a baby.  Loose tooth today, driving and dating a pierced, tattooed peer tomorrow.  Sigh.

So you can imagine the panic I felt at realizing the first tooth had been lost.  I drive the girls to school every morning.  We have our routine.  Elementary school first, in line with all the rest of the parents dropping off their precious bundles of joy.  Waiting until the child makes it to the safety of the aid who opens the door for them.  The line was long today.  She hopped out, further back in the line then I liked and ran up the sidewalk coming to a screeching halt halfway up.  She turned and ran back to the car and I knew what she was returning for.  The Kissing Hands. 

I plant a kiss on the palm of both her hands, she plants a kiss on the palm of both my hands and then we kiss on the lips.  Every morning.  If you do not know the significance behind the kissing hands you need to look up the book and get it to read to your little ones.  Such a great story.  https://www.google.com/#q=The+Kissing+Hand+book&hl=en&tbo=u&source=univ&tbm=shop&sa=X&ei=eETLUPH9FY-29gSc6oBQ&sqi=2&ved=0CEsQsxg&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=11d5ec86076e28e2&bpcl=39967673&biw=1152&bih=696

So after the kissing hand ritual, I noticed she was touching her mouth.  My first thought was she was wiping my kiss from her mouth as the stinker likes to do sometimes.  She turned and looked at me and matter of factly said, “I lost my tooth.”  Open door for flood of emotions once that sentence sunk in.  Excitement for her, heart wrenching for me, anxiety for the Tooth Fairy who will now have to keep her eyes open long enough to perform the duties.  Then she said the words, “I am not sure where it fell, it’s gone though.”  WHAT?!! 

As she took off, the horror set in knowing that her tooth was now in limbo.  My baby’s first lost tooth, I could not stand the thought of it just being lost on the school sidewalk, stepped on by many kids and teachers and mixed in with dirt and pebbles.  So I did what any mother would do.  I pulled into a parking spot and convinced my teenager to help me find the itty bitty tooth. 

Full line of parents dropping off children.  Several hundred feet of sidewalk.  Lots of dirt and pebbles.  My daughter and I on our hands and knees searching for the lost tooth.  Picture it.  Oh the situations we get into for our children. 

End of story is that the tooth was found.  A piece of my baby girl’s childhood in my hand.  To be placed under her pillow where she will lay her head tonight and the Tooth Fairy will fly in and exchange the tooth for some money and fly away leaving the magic of childhood and fantasy behind.  And I now have a memory to hang on to with a little smile and a lot of love.  The story of the first lost lost-tooth.

On a side note, I have a hard time with religion but there are many moments in life that I have to really wonder if a higher power is not at work.  It seems financially especially, when things are tight and I am wondering how everything will come together and then there is a sudden chain of events like a few bills that are unexpectedly less than what was budgeted or news of unexpected yet appreciated gifts of money at times it is needed most that really make me wonder if the word Believe doesn’t have more meaning than what we give it face value for.  For those who question the meaning of Christmas, maybe it is to renew spirit in believing in things we don’t see or understand.  Believing in miracles and that we are not meant to understand everything in life but that Faith means knowing with your heart Everything that happens is meant to be and that it will all work out in the end.  Take no moment, no matter how small for granted because no moment in life is meaningless.  Open your eyes and heart to all possibilities for those who are blind and closed will miss so much beauty and magic in life. 

I am truly grateful for my curious and open mind and heart that looks beyond the ordinary to see the extraordinary in everything and everyone.  Creativity and imagination should not end with childhood, it should always exist.  Thanks to a chain of events throughout the past year, just know that I am starting to BELIEVE with my heart and my mind.  I can not explain some things that have happened, other to know that there is a bigger power at work.  May it be angels, may it be Him, may it be Santa or the tooth fairy or just how life is meant to be work out, there is something bigger than us out there.  So this holiday season and beyond just celebrate what is in front of you and beyond you.  That is the meaning of Christmas.  Nothing and no one in life is truly lost.  It can be found in the craziest places if you open your eyes and look for it.  Whether it be a tooth or faith or meanings.  It’s there.  Just believe.  Merry Christmas to all and to all a GREAT night!