Last week, while my littles were napping, I was feeling generous and gave my big kids a piece of licorice - something rarely done during the day(Yes, Mom, it is the same batch you gave me from Valentine's Day).  All of a sudden, I heard Boy7crying hysterically.  After much deciphering, I figured out that he had bitten into his licorice and his tooth became very loose, to the point that a little blood had come out.  The taste of blood in his mouth completely freaked him out.  He would not let me touch it and wasn't even wild about me looking inside.  He was crying that he didn't want to lose his tooth.  I explained that it was part of growing up, his older sister has lost 2, that it isn't painful to lose them.  He continued to cry and asked why God didn't just put in his big teeth right away.  This made me giggle as I pictured how he would have looked as a baby with adult teeth!  Nothing I was saying could console him or calm him down so I could look to see how loose this tooth actually was.  He even said that he would never eat licorice again!

He was so inconsolable that I called BW to see how far he was from home and prep him for what he was walking into that evening.  I thought that his father would have words to console him, but while Daddy used all the same encouraging words that I did, the wimpering continued.  At dinner and at breakfast an at lunch the next day, he complained about everything he ate saying that it was hurting his tooth and he didn't like that it was wiggling. 

I offered to tie a string around his tooth and slam the door(completely joking).  A few minutes later, he asked if we did the door thing if it would hurt - he was seriously considering it!

That night, during his bath he called me in.  He told me that he had just prayed that God would help him to be brave about his loose tooth.  I told him that I knew God would answer that prayer. 

Fast forward to Sunday night.  We returned from a trip to Northern California for BW's Grandmother's funeral.  It was his turn to brush his teeth.  As he brushed, his tooth just popped out onto the sink!  BW happened to be in there brushing Boy2's tooth.  Boy7 was so excited!  He was jumping around and showing off his tooth to everyone.  So now my guy looks like this:

The next morning, he was in our room to wake us up.  He was excited that God had helped him to be brave, that it didn't hurt and that he received $2 from the tooth fairy.  He also loves sticking his tongue in the empty space and grossing out his sisters. 

Never a dull moment around here!

-J