Farewell to the Snaggletooth!

This morning, as Julia sat happily eating her chocolate chip bagel and watching "Curious George," she suddenly received an unexpected surprise in her mouth.

"MOM!" she cried in distress. "I feel like I have to spit out my food! There's something crunchy in my mouth!"

I went over to take a look and discovered that, at long last, her crooked, blackened snaggletooth had FINALLY come all the way unhinged!



Never mind that she swallowed it. It's gone, it's finally gone. This tooth has been driving us all crazy, as we watched it die a slow, gruesome death, turning black, and coming loose from the gum on one side, only to hang crooked from the other end, while the tooth underneath began growing in. Nearly everyone who knows Julia has begged for a chance to try and pull the tooth out, including the doctor who diagnosed her ear infection yesterday, but Julia was so averse to letting anyone touch it that she preferred to leave it dead and dangling indefinitely.

As we headed off for school, Julia was on cloud nine, skipping around the kitchen gathering her school things, chirping, "Mama, don't forget to tell ALL my teachers at school that I lost my tooth!"

When we got to school, we began to spread the news. Or, rather, I spread the news, while Julia interjected various critical comments to let me know I wasn't doing the story justice.

ME: Hey Julia, here's Miss Jessie. Do you want to tell her your news?
JULIA: (looking at me shyly, then blurting some nonsensical goofy gibberish)
ME: Do you want me to tell her?
JULIA: (nodding, mouth clamped shut)
ME: Julia FINALLY lost her crooked, black tooth!
MISS JESSIE: You did, Julia! I noticed that tooth and I wanted to pull it out for you!
ME: Yeah, so did everyone, but she wouldn't let us touch it.
JULIA: MOOOOM! You don't need to say that!
ME: It fell out while she was eating her bagel. All of a sudden she started saying "I feel like there's something crunchy in my mouth!"
JULIA: No, no, MOOOOM! Don't make it sound like I was CRYING!

We then moved into the main classroom, where we got to tell the school director about Julia's tooth. The director's response? "Oh, you finally lost that tooth? I asked Julia if I could pull it out for her, but she didn't want me to."

We then moved outside, where another classroom teacher was greeting the kids.

MRS. O: Hi, Julia!
JULIA: (loudly) MOM! Why are you telling everyone about my LOST tooth?
ME: (taking my cue) Mrs. O, Julia lost her front tooth!
MRS. O: You did? I noticed that tooth!

Yes. We all noticed. Thank goodness it's finally out!

Madeleine was completely oblivious to the whole tooth loss ordeal this morning, as she was totally absorbed in her morning tv. While watching "Elmo's World," which happened to be about sleeping today, she felt the need to enact the episode's theme. Alternating between laying down on a pillow on the couch and fake snoring with sitting up and exclaiming, "I waked up!", she was fully engaged in the program's message. However, when it was time for Elmo to interview a talking bed, Madeleine suddenly seemed thrown. "What are THOSE pillows talkin' about?" she asked me.

Later on in the morning, Madeleine sat peacefully coloring at the dining room table, attempting to tell herself the story of Goldilocks. Both girls have been obsessed with my telling of this story (complete with songs from my embarrassing early teenage composer days, during which I put on a puppet show musical of the story) ever since I told it to Madeleine to entice her to stay put on the potty until she peed. I sat there this morning, listening to Madeleine's version of the story:

MADELEINE: And she took a bite of porridge and she said, "OUCH! This porridge is TOO burny. I burned my mouth!" And she took a bite of another porridge and she said, "OUCH! This porridge is just right." And she ate it ALL UP.

Perhaps that can perfectly sum up Julia's breakfast experience this morning. OUCH! This tooth is TOO crunchy! I ate it ALL UP.