Grace is my youngest child. On March 2, she will be five and a half years old. I may be in some denial about her growing up.
Yesterday, on the way to the grocery store, she piped up from the back seat: “Isn’t it nice that we can spend time together?” As if we don’t spend every day together, all day.
We bought some fried chicken from the deli, even though the smell of it and thought of it curls my lips in disgust. She and her 9-year old brother love drumsticks, just as I did as a child. Now I would sooner starve than eat a chicken drumstick.
All the kids are gnawing on their chicken (*shudder*) and suddenly, Grace stops and grimaces in pain. She said, “Oh!” and clutched a hand to her mouth. I reached out my arms and said, “What happened? Did you bite your lip?” and she said, “I bit the bone and MY TOOTH GOT LOOSE!”
Uh, I think I might have forgotten to mention to her that her baby teeth would fall out and her big teeth would grow in. I remember my other children being excited about this event . . . granted, one of my older boys was in about third grade by the time he lost his first tooth and his twin brother was only a little younger. My 9-year old lost his first tooth when he was 4, but he found it exciting.
I hugged my daughter to me and explained what happened. She spent the rest of the night pushing her tooth around with her tongue.
Tonight, she hollered for me while she was in the bathtub.
“Mom?”
“Yes.”
“Can we go somewhere tomorrow?”
“Why?”
“Because I want to buy some church shoes.”
“You already have church shoes,” I said, thinking of her black Mary Janes and her beige Mary Janes with the pink flower on them. Oh, and she has brown Mary Janes, too, not that she’s ever worn them. And let us not forget the fancy red satin shoes with red sequins.
“My church shoes are all ugly. Besides,” she said, “On Sunday I want to wear that really pretty pink dress and I need to get some pink shoes that match at that store we went with Zachary to buy new shoes yesterday because I know they have church shoes because I tried on those really pretty pink ones and I want to buy them even though they were too big.”
“We’ll see. Probably not.”
Contrast this with Zachary’s absolute disgust that I insisted he try on and allow me to buy new shoes for him. All of my boys have been shoe resistant and now I have a little Imelda Marcos on my hands. Life has a funny way of balancing out.
Actual Unretouched Photo 
It is weird how different kids from the same family can be.
BTW, today my 7 year old daughter talked me into a new pair of white shoes to go with her outfit for the Father-Daughter Dance. She has more shoes than the entire family put together!
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There’s just something different about girls. I just found out that letting Rachel try on shoes while she is sitting in the cart is a no-no. I bought her two pair that are at least four sizes too small. I guess there’s no end to what you can learn when you have kids.
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Oh, so sweet. And I am so comforted in knowing that it can take long for a first tooth to fall out -my 7 year old is the last in his class to lose any teeth yet!
Steph
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Spare her from the harsh reality that once you approach 50 the teeth tend to loosen up again.
It’s just not so darn cute then.
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Welcome to girl world. It’s downright scary, sometimes.
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There really is something very disgusting about chicken drumsticks. Maybe its that little weird bone that runs alongside the large bone? I’m a girl and I have always loved shoes. My nephews not so much at all.
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The prettier the shoe the more the $$$ and comfort is not an option- pretty is.
Watching them grow up is fun, seeing them grown is fun it is all that stuff inbetween. You know when they pull away you pull back when they push harder you are still trying to pull back.
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Ugh, I don’t like chicken drumsticks either – no bone, please.
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“Isn’t it nice that we can spend time together?”
For someone who’s been reading your blog for years, that is super funny. Did you manage not to laugh?
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Hahaha!!! I wonder if it is a genetic thing with little blond girls and shoes! My 4.5 yo is obsessed with shoes. In fact, if you ask her what her favorite web site is she will tell you StrideRite.com! At least for now, the shoes for those little feet as less pricey than the ones for the bigger feet!
We’ve also told ours that she’ll lose her baby teeth to make way for her big girl teeth. She clasped a hand to her mouth and said “they cannot fall out because THEY ARE MINE!!!” (My older one, now almost 13, would wiggle and wiggle them, and then pull them out! ick.)
Good luck!
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Welcome to my world. It never ends…..
Fran
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Your daughter is adorable! Don’t worry about it, I don’t think anyone can ever surpass Imelda Marcos!
Great blog!
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