It’s nearing midnight, and I’m sitting here in my office at Rock Father HQ with tears in my eyes. No, I’m not crying, but the eyes are definitely misty with happy tears as I type these words and assess my current surroundings. A Hasbro STAR WARS Millenium Falcon sits a few feet away, flanked by a trio of Fisher-Price Little People riding horses. They look as if they’re about to board the ship, while LEGO Spider-man is about to speed by on some sort of motorcycle – a deeper look revealing that he’s being chased by LEGO Batman on a Jet Ski. Nearby, a variety of Disney Princesses hold court, while an overturned Step2 stool sits near the girls’ art desk, on top of which lies remnants of a few in-progress masterpieces from earlier today. In front of me, three empty cans of Diet Mountain Dew, an almost-empty Coke Zero, project notes scribbled on white paper, and a pile of CDs and DVDs that will probably never be reviewed thanks to the increasingly mythical element known as “time” (or lack thereof). It’s nights like this that I realize that each day brings our family closer to the end of these “happy messes,” and I don’t like it. Kids grow up, and even though ours are technically still little, the reminders are like jabs in the gut. Tonight, The Tooth Fairy will be paying our oldest a visit for the first time, and that’s something that I’ve dreaded.
Addie will be six this year, and it really does freak me out that “time flies” in just the manner that I’d always heard as a younger man, but am now witnessing as a parent. As each of our daughters arrives at a new milestone, it’s a happy time for all, but inside I hold a little sorrow in that another piece of childhood is behind us. When it comes to teeth, I’ve always been a little skittish – so when Addie joyously informed us that she had her first loose tooth, it was my wife who was excited, and it was I who stayed a little more reserved. It was time to start preparing, and that meant ordering a “Tooth Fairy Pillow” that I saw for the first time via Skype while I was in Los Angeles working last month, and the girls were here in Illinois…
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https://instagram.com/p/0rHJt9R-t4/” style=” color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;” target=”_top”>As I'm out in LA filming with the #LKCollectors crew, back at home, Addie has her first loose tooth, and the pillow Jen and I ordered for her has arrived 🙂 #parenting
It took around six weeks from the time its looseness was first noticed, but today that tooth decided to set itself free. Addie and I were doing some LEGO building while Finn was having an action figure adventure nearby. Addie swore “today is the day!,” and she was right. A couple of hours later, one of her lower front incisors became the first to be “lost” as we played outside in the backyard. She was so proud…
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https://instagram.com/p/2C6cSbx-vB/” style=” color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;” target=”_top”>Earlier today: Addie lost her first tooth, and that makes me sad. Some words are up on my site right now… #parenting #TheRockDaughters
A quick trip inside was in order to carefully place the tooth safely inside the special pillow.
The real challenge was this whole “Tooth Fairy” issue, and as much as I love having a personal relationship with Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny and The Loch Ness Monster, I deferred to Jen on this one. We’d decided awhile ago that the “rate” would be $1 – paid using a gold coin, which proved to be nearly impossible to find, though my wife did manage to track down a single Sacagawea Golden Dollar Coin to be used for tonight.
Those beautiful, beautiful teeth… I’m going to be feeling this way each time one of them makes way for their “grownup” counterpart…
