Andrew has now lost two teeth. My sweet little baby's face is already changing and looking older. My friend Susan warned me this would happen when he lost teeth, so I was prepared. However, I was not prepared for the question of what to do with the lost baby teeth. When Andrew was born, Gangee gave him two little personalized silver keepsake boxes: one for his first curl and one for his first tooth. So the first tooth Andrew lost was easy -- I just popped it into its special little velvet-lined box and stuck it in Andrew's closet with his other baby mementos. Done.
But then Andrew ruined things by going and losing another tooth. There is no keepsake box for "Baby's Second Tooth." So now, sitting on my bathroom counter is that second little tooth. (The Tooth Fairy thoughtfully left it there for me after taking it from under Andrew's pillow.) And I am stumped as to what to do with it.
On the one hand, it really feels creepy to keep a collection of lost teeth. Because if I keep this one, I will have to commit to keep them all...and three kids times twenty baby teeth is...well, it's late and I don't want to do math, but I'm sure it's a lot. It just feels a little...I don't know...serial-killer-esque to hoard them. And where would I keep them? A plastic baggie doesn't seem dignified. I sure don't want them in my pajama drawer. Would having them made into a necklace be inappropriate? And what kind of earrings do you wear with a baby-tooth necklace?
But on the other hand, I pick up that little tooth, and it's...my sweet little baby's perfectly white, perfectly straight, perfectly perfect little tooth. The tooth that kept Andrew (and us) up nights as it came in. The tooth that we greeted with applause when it finally broke the surface. The tooth that signaled the end of the precious gummy baby grin and the beginning of the cheesy little toddler grin. And it's just sitting there on my counter -- a part of my boy. I can't bring myself to put it in the trash. It feels disrespectful and wrong just to throw it away.
So, there it is. Sorry, but this post will have no closure. Not tonight, anyway. The tooth will stay on my counter. Each morning for the next I don't know how many mornings, I will pick up the little tooth as I have done every morning for the past couple weeks and ponder again God's marvelous workmanship, my little guy's fleeting boyhood, and the question of what to do with this little tooth and the others that are surely to follow.
When I was about 12 I found my teeth in Mom's jewelry box (they were in long, white necklace box). I'm still a little horrified they were there. I begged mom to throw them out when I found them...can't remember what she did. They may still be in her jewelry box now. Eeeewwwww. Throw the teeth away so you don't give your children nightmares later. :-)
ReplyDeleteReally, after you toss the first one (well, 2nd one lost) out it gets easier. But I sympathize with you - I had a tough time letting Katey's teeth go.
Awww... that's actually sweet. I always just thought old teeth were gross... but now I can see your point. :)
ReplyDeleteI discovered that Pete had been keeping Strider's teeth in some little nook I never knew about -- and I laughed at him, and then threw them away immediately! So between Pete and me we can empathize with your dilemma. :)
My vote is to throw them out. Otherwise, his wife will have to keep them in her jewelry box in an empty medicine bottle because her mother-in-law made the effort to keep EVERY one of her son's baby teeth and he can't throw them out. I'm speaking from experience. :-)
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