DaddyFactory

Losing teeth. It’s traumatic for them, cool for us, then cool for them, then just a revenue stream for enterprising younguns.

I’ve written about it before, but back then (although it was traumatic) I was truly wowed by the process and excited because it meant my little guy was growing up a little bit.

Now my little girl has her first loose tooth and my feelings have totally changed. What was once a mark of progress is now a symbol of the irrevocable — the years we won’t get back and the baby who is now a girl. When the oldest hits these milestones, there is a sense of awe and wonder and (at least as long as there are younger kids around) a longing for the next big event. But when the youngest takes those steps and moves into the future, the past seems all the more precious.

Kids change our relationship to time: we want it to speed up so we can witness the next big evolution (and get some sleep) and we want it to stop so we can embrace the moment of their tininess and fragility and dependency one more time.

And all that struck me, just because she said “Daddy, feel my tooth wiggle,” and I did.