Gnashing of Teeth
We've had a big
morning in our house - Lex’s first baby teeth have come loose. To
say my lad is a little bit spun out by the feeling of having loose teeth in his
mouth is an understatement – see photo of distressed child for proof. In fact,
Lex’s reaction was not dissimilar to how his Mum reacts when discovering a
broken tooth! I’m not sure if Jax assisted in the loosening of said teeth,
because he yanked a crane inserted into Lex’s mouth moments before the discovery.
As such, Lex is not only very unhappy about his teeth, but very unhappy about
Jax’s role in their demise.
I
will always remember the teeth frenzy growing up. With four kids close together
in age, there was a lot of activity and excitement around teeth coming loose,
including tying strings from teeth to door handles and slamming doors to get
the buggers out. My Mum still has a pot of our teeth –a hideous collection to
hold onto but great if DNA samples are ever needed.
Moments
like this bring to light the challenges of raising a speech delayed child. In
the last 12 months or so, Lex’s language has improved considerably, especially
in the area that has been our biggest struggle - his receptive language.
Receptive language delay means he finds it difficult to understand what is
being said to him. Expressive language has also been a challenge, but we work
hard to interpret what he’s saying. As you can imagine, when your kid doesn’t
understand what you’re talking about this is very difficult for a parent,
because you just need your kids to understand, mainly because you want them to
be safe. When you feel unsure that “don’t run on the road” isn’t understood,
for example, it can make you a slightly nervous wreck of a parent.
But
Lex is really taking on board most of what we say now, and working his arse off
to get his own words out. He’s still a bit all over the place with word order,
but he’s getting there and it’s really wonderful to watch - although I admit I’m
desperate for it to happen a lot faster. I’ve never been a patient person.
So
imagine this morning when I had to sit him down, through his tears, and try to
explain what was happening. It went something along these lines: “Love this is
completely normal. The loose teeth will fall out and then your big boy teeth
will come in. When the teeth fall out, we will put them under your pillow and
the Tooth Fairy will take them away and leave you some money so you can buy toys.
This is a great thing darling, don’t worry, I promise everything will be OK.”
He
listened intently, and I know once he goes through the whole experience,
including finding the money under his pillow left by the Tooth Fairy, it’s all
going to slot into place. Experience is definitely his best teacher. However his
only response so far, other than tears, is “don’t take my teeth Mummy, don’t
take my teeth.”
Bless
his cotton socks.
The
worst thing is Steve’s missing this milestone because he just got on a plane to
Taiwan this morning. Steve will be very unhappy about missing this big moment
in Lex’s life and I can’t tell him because he’s still in the air. Bummer.
In
the meantime, we now anxiously await the moment his first teeth fall out and I hope
I’m there when it happens. It’s a big deal round these parts, but probably for
different reasons than most, and hey let’s not forget - my little boy is
growing up!
So can
anyone tell me what the going rate is for the Tooth Fairy these days?
Yours,
without the bollocksAndrea
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