In this pocket you will find
A teensy, tiny tooth of mine.
So while I sleep where dreams are made,
Let’s see if you can make a trade.  ~Author Unknown

Kyle’s 1st day of the 6th grade. What a nice smile buddy! 9/2012

Ever since Kyle was in the third grade, or there about he has been obsessed with loosing his baby teeth.  He, like the rest of my family is a Late Bloomer.  Personally I don’t think it’s a bad thing, always priding myself on it, it’s just the way it is.

In fact, I’ve told Kyle, he is lucky to loose his teeth later on in life, but he never wants to hear it.  Especially, since it’s like pulling teeth to get him to brush his, pun intended.

On a side note, it took us years of bribing the kid and reminding him to brush his teeth, when he wasn’t with us, to do so.  Seriously, years.  Sometimes I would swear he didn’t brush his teeth all week, they were so caked with crud I was grossed out and couldn’t understand how he even tasted his food.  To this day, he still has an issue with waking up and brushing his stinky breath, a habit that needs to be reinforced every day and inspected, a battle I refuse to give in to.  If he doesn’t know he’s missing areas of tarter, then how can he correct it if it’s not pointed out?  Leave it to me, I have no qualms with making him stand there and revisit questionable areas.  Anything to keep his teeth as healthy as possible.  I don’t budge on this issue.

Hygiene is not an concern with Kyle.  His only concern is with the number of baby teeth left.  You see according to his friends, he is the only one with remaining baby teeth.  I get it, he’s in the seventh grade, but he doesn’t realize he’s very young for his class and put on top of that, he’s a Piper, all makes for a totally immature individual. (maybe I should lighten up on other acts of immaturity)

Granted, he wasn’t always like this.  O no, at first, when I finally plucked out his first tooth, and yes, I yanked the darn thing out, Kyle was excited about the space between his teeth.  Not to mention he loved the promise of the tooth fairy, which made the ordeal worth while, and of course the money that generally accompanies a baby tooth, all combined made for one happy toothless kid.

Although times have changed.  A few weekends ago, as I was picking up my little man off of the bus, he sat proudly in the passenger seat and showed off another missing tooth.  He wasn’t excited over having a hole where a tooth should be residing.  O no!  He was elated for knowing he had one less baby tooth, but then obsessed over the hole and when the other tooth will take its place.  And so goes the vicious cycle.

Recently, it seems like Kyle is knocking down the count.  Last weekend Kyle showed me a tooth that was barely hanging on.  He has real issues with causing pain or seeing blood or the possibilities of either.  Nope, instead he played with that baby molar, with his tongue, until it popped out.  While working at my desk, Kyle hands me something.  It was his tooth!  I was so excited for him!  I said, “Wow buddy they’re coming out in full force now!”  He gave me the biggest grin and then informed me of the final count of those still standing.  Unfortunately, I can’t remember the count but the numbers are dwindling.

Whenever the conversation of baby teeth comes up, Kyle comforts himself with the knowledge that his Gigi, my mom, lost her last baby tooth when she was in her early twenties, while working at Kennametal.  It’s true, the dentist had to sedate her to yank it out.  Mom’s a big baby too!  Kyle loves rehashing that tale like he was there.

Nicole, Ryan and me all took a long time to loose our baby teeth too.  In fact, I remember pulling out the few popular front teeth, but as for the rest, I have no idea when they made their grand exit.  To be honest, I forgot all about them by the time I too got to the junior high.  The posterior teeth were probably consumed with a meal, giving added crunch.  I never cared about my baby teeth, at least not after I found out the tooth fairy was mom and the money dried up.

What cracks me up, soon this will be all over and totally forgotten about by Kyle.  But until then, it is a focus of his, in addition to his video games.  He needs to learn to accept the fact that he is a Piper, which is synonymous with late bloomer, but he is still having a hard time dealing with the baby teeth situation.  I don’t want Kyle to rush growing up.

Enjoy life as it comes buddy!

Maturity begins to grow when you can sense your concern for others outweighing your concern for yourself.  ~John MacNaughton

Ringing in 2009 with a new smile 12/31/08

You know, Kyle didn’t lose his first tooth until he was in the third grade, he’s in the fifth grade now.  In fact, I plucked that tooth out on New Year’s Eve Day. It took me a better part of the day to convince Kyle to let me pull it out.  It’s amazing how the one little tooth drove me crazy just hanging there.  And it’s amazing how the idea of pulling one little tooth stressed him out.  Kyle’s not the bravest when it comes to pain or blood, let alone the thought of it.  I think that was and always is Kyle’s biggest fear, the unknown.  Well, maybe not the unknown per se, but his perception of what it should be like, his imagination spinning completely out of control.  Anyway, at this point, Kyle was upset because all the kids in his class already lost at least one tooth, not to mention those that have already lost all baby teeth replaced by adult teeth.  None of this was a concern to me, not one bit. In fact, I was very happy that Kyle was a late bloomer.  I want him to be a kid as long as he can and really enjoy his childhood.  Not to mention, we Pipers are generally late bloomers.  So he certainly fits the Piper profile.  My mom, not a Piper by birthright, didn’t lose her last baby tooth until she was in her early twenties.  I don’t think I lost my last one until I was Kyle’s age now, somewhere in fifth grade or so, maybe later.

Kyle ringing in the New Year! Of course with the least amount of clothing on 12/31/09

I remember when my teeth were starting to fall out.  My pappy would get out his red handkerchief and try to attach it to the smooth sides of the tiny tooth to give him some grip and pull.  I remember we had a hard time getting one of my teeth out.  I was never grossed out or feared pulling out my teeth. Sitting on the sink in the bathroom and starring at the hanging tooth and examining  the root was fascinating to me.  However, not all of my baby teeth fell out naturally.  You see, at one point, my adult teeth started to surface along side my baby teeth.  Would you believe my baby teeth never loosened up?  So needless to say, it became very crowded very quickly.  Mom had to take me to the dentist to give an eviction notice to those who would not leave the premises.  On a side note, I guess I shouldn’t be so hard on Kyle because that particular visit didn’t go as bravely as I may have remembered.  I know the dentist wanted to give me a shot of Novocaine before he began yanking out the culprits.  Ambushing my dentist with a slight over reaction started the whole adventure.  I do remember waiting until he approached my mouth with the needle before I forceably moved his hands, needle included, out of their course of action.  That did result in me shooting the dentist in the arm with the needle of Novocaine, which ultimately resulted in me getting yelled at by the dentist, getting a shot anyway, and the removal of a few stubborn baby teeth.  On my defense, I think I was suffering from PTSD when I was attacked by a dog and the side of my face, near my eye, had to be stitched up.

I plucked Kyle's first tooth on New Year's Eve - Ringing in 2009 12/31/08

Regardless, back to Kyle.  He still comments on the lack of teeth he’s lost comparatively to what he has, as well as his friends.  But I have been telling him that they’ll eventually come out.  Of course not mentioning my experience or the fact he may need to get them removed professionally.  I think I’ll deal with that situation when the time comes.

Now, to lighten the tooth pulling mood, this story needs to be shared just for the simple humor and innocence that resides in the mind of Kyle.  Let’s talk about armpit hair! Or I really should say, the invisible armpit hair.  One evening during Kyle’s nightly ritual of showering he summoned me to the bathroom.  I heard him saying, “Aunt Heather, look! I can see it!”  I thought, “What in the world is he seeing in the shower? Keep in mind, he was probably six or seven years old.  I pushed the shower curtain aside and asked, “What’s wrong honey?”  While raising his arm, exposing the armpit, Kyle starts telling me that he saw a hair.  What?  O my!  Did he just say he saw a hair?  That was the funniest thing I think I’ve ever heard.  Now keep in mind, I don’t think Kyle even had any hair on his legs, if very few and they were blonde!  Again, back to being a late bloomer.  In disbelief I asked, “What did you see?” His response as clear as day was, “Ya, Aunt Heather, look! I have a hair.”  I proceeded to tell him there was no hair.  But he wouldn’t believe me.  He said, “Look closer, Aunt Heather! I saw a hair!”  Again, even though he was thoroughly convinced there was a hair in his armpit, I reiterated there was no hair.  In fact, he would not give up on the idea, he said, “O, it must have fallen out when I was scrubbing.”  What a card!  He stood there, holding up his arm to expose the armpit to me for complete examination.  That was too funny!!  A real Kyle classic.

Kyle with Scooby Ringing in 2010! 12/31/09

Dad is to blame for that one.  You see, even to this day, he sometimes likes to tease Kyle poking at his armpits and saying, “I think I see a bush! Is that a bush under there!”  Kyle always did and still does giggle and gets very ticklish.  I must say, it is kinda funny.  Kyle is now ten, and still no armpit hair.

I guess there are all sorts of growing pains and many more to talk about.  Maybe later. After all, it seems to be around the corner. Kyle is growing up so fast.