Zander lost his first tooth!
So, yesterday, the boys had off from school and since the weather was gorgeous and my sister hooked us up with 2 free guest passes, we went to the Denver Zoo. In all our years together in Colorado, Doug and I had never been there together. Isn’t that weird?
At lunch, we were talking about Zander’s loose tooth. We noted that when he pushed on it with his tongue, it would lay completely flat on his gum. Eww.
It was a perfect day, sunny with a light occasional breeze. We saw lots of animals, and visited Tropical Discovery – which we missed the last time we went because of the Free Zoo Day crowds.
The boys bought some new “pets” with their own money at the gift shop on the way out. Zander got a sea lion, and Zevan bought a big hedgehog. It’s so cute to see them at the check out counter.
About halfway home, Zander declared, “I got my tooth out!” There was much excitement. And blood. He handed it to his dad. Doug grabbed some gauze from the first aid kit and Zander put it in his mouth to staunch the bleeding.
He was very excited about the prospect of the tooth fairy. When we got home, we put his tooth in a plastic ziplock bag, and he immediately put it under his pillow and announced he would take a nap.
I told him that the tooth fairy only came at night. He found this fact disappointing, but acceptable.
Last night, I went to bed earlier than usual to read and go to sleep. I had just finished a chapter, turned out the light and laid down, when I remember about the tooth.
So, I got up and grabbed a dollar, replaced the tooth in the bag with it, and went to sleep.
When Doug came to bed later, he woke me to ask if I remembered about the tooth. Seems it was on both of our minds not to disappoint Zander.
Zander woke up early and immediately looked under the pillow. He was disappointed at first, “Darn, no money!” when he saw the plastic bag was still there. Then he looked inside the bag and got excited again.
His permanent tooth is already poking out of the gum and looks much larger than the baby tooth. He also has another loose tooth right next to the one he just lost.
What a weird process. Nature is funny.
Losing teeth and the tooth fairy are fun parts of growing up. James’ permanent teeth in front came in a lot faster than I had expected.
I think teaching kids about money, what it is, how to manage it, and letting them make their own decisions about spending are one the most important lessons a parent can teach. It’s always one of the biggest differences I see in James versus his cousins. Of course there are sometimes unintended consequences. Like the day that James offered to give his savings money to the school to keep it open. Or when he told us that if he won some contest he would use the money to pay off our car…
I don’t know if it’s the Montessori teachings or a first born thing, but Zander is so generous, right now in the interest of our family enjoyment. Little things like offering to use his money to pay for dinner out or sky ride tickets at the zoo. He’s actually lent me cash if I don’t have some with me. This summer we are going to step it up and actually open a bank account for him. I’m looking for a kid friendly bank that is conveniently close…