This afternoon I received a call from the school nurse. She quickly assured me that everything was fine (the first words out of anyone’s mouth from the school when they call. It only took one time of them calling and not first saying that for me to freak out and immediately assume they were calling because Cody had a seizure.) Cody was in the nurse’s room and asking to be parent pick-up at the end of the day. His tooth was loose and he was worried that it would fall out on the bus.
The tooth in question has been very loose for over two weeks. He lost his first front tooth on his birthday two weeks ago while we were on vacation in Tucson. The Tooth Fairy was prepared and had brought a golden one dollar coin in anticipation of said event. She was not, however, prepared for two teeth to fall out while we were out of town and lucky for her that was not to be.
So today, I put away my math homework a little early and drove in to pick up Cody. He was home for less than an hour when it fell out. The first thing he did, after we got the blood flow to stop, was to practice saying words with the “th” sound. He could pronounce them just fine. I think he was a bit disappointed.
Tonight he is going to put the tooth under his pillow. He has written a letter to The Tooth Fairy telling her that this time, for the first time ever, she is allowed to take his tooth. I wonder if he is expecting to get more than just one golden coin since he is parting with his tooth. I suppose that may be worth two coins.
His smile, while lacking in teeth, is that of a boy who is healthy, happy, and beautiful. I love it. I love him. My seven year old with the double gap in his smile.
Shoes On The Wrong Feet 
Awww – love it! This is my favorite part, “His smile, while lacking in teeth, is that of a boy who is healthy, happy, and beautiful. I love it. I love him. My seven year old with the double gap in his smile.” Glad it wasn’t such a horrible phone call after all. (I now know how to leave comments on blogs – uh oh!) Best wishes,
I always flinch when I hear an emergency siren or the phone shows a call from the school, my mind going first to the worst. I am glad it was only a worry over a tooth. Cody is having fun pushing his tongue through his new double gap – it is pretty cute!
Glad to see you here, although I know you have been reading from the start and I enjoy your emails with comments. 🙂
I love those gap toothed smiles. They fill in too soon. 🙂
I was bemoaning the loss of his tooth and the forever change in the landscape of his mouth, not thinking that another change is coming right around the bend that will age him even more. I have been driving him a little nuts as I try to capture the loveliness of the double front tooth gap in a photo. Between my inexperience with photography and an unwilling subject, I may just have to do with goofy faces and blurry shots. Which when I really think about it, captures my life perfectly.
I think the nurses are told on day one to say that when they call home. Wise teaching.
I hope he has many reasons to smile his double gap smile.
Yes, very wise as a call from the school is usually not a good thing. We have been so lucky that all his seizures have happened at home and now they are getting fewer so I am hoping he will never have to suffer one surrounded by his classmates.
He is a happy kid with a ready smile, unless I am around trying to capture the fleeting double gap smile with my camera! I need to try for stealth photography…
Getting my kids to smile for the camera is nearly impossible. Just getting them both to look in the right direction is a challenge.
My daughter lost her first tooth very late, the summer after 2nd grade. She was 8. She was so bummed because if she had lost the tooth during school she would have gotten a tooth necklace from her teacher to put the tooth in. She had been waiting for the tooth necklace since kindergarten! Unfortunately the tooth necklace tradition didn’t extend into 3rd grade. 🙂
How sad! Cody really wanted one of those tooth necklaces too but he was unwilling to help the tooth along. His greatest fear was that it would come out on the bus so at least that did not happen.
Count your lucky stars the nurse didn’t start out with, “How far are you from the hospital?”
Even so, all’s well that ends well (broken arm)…my lefty turned into a righty and then turned ambidextrous. But the suspense of that call, I would have traded for a tooth. Great story!
I have timed it – if I do not have Carter with me to strap into his car seat and I am willing to speed, I can be at the school in just over three minutes. So if they call me shortly after he starts seizing, and he is still not with us when I get there, we are within the safety zone in which I can give him his meds. They also have meds at the school that the paramedics can give him (or the school nurse, who is only there one day a week).
A broken arm! Well if it led to becoming ambidextrous, I think I would take that. I envy that ability. 🙂 Glad you liked the story!
You are amazing…right down to your timing. “Leadfoot” belongs in the special needs mom job description, for sure. There simply are times when we – and no one else – should not question our judgment when it comes to our kid’s needs. Blessings to you.
I agree with you. Things may seem out of sort or incorrect to the outsider who does not understand. I have no qualms about breaking the sound barrier if I must, to get to my child if he needs me to be there.
I can only imagine the flips your heart does when the school calls. Glad it was a tooth and nothing more serious.
Yes, I can handle a tooth. 🙂 The school needs to come up with a code that shows up on phones so a parent can know right away that it is not an emergency.