Day 206

One night, when Constance had her first loose tooth, I tucked her in by saying, “Make sure you save that tooth if it comes out tonight. Mommy wants to save it so someday we can clone you.” Constance looked over the top of her book at me and said, “No thanks.” I wasn’t sure if she was referring to the cloning or the tooth. The next morning, she shared the good news that she’d lost her first tooth by handing the tooth to me and then going about her morning.

I carefully put the tooth in a tiny pillow box that her Aunt Melissa had gotten her when she was born—you know, for safekeeping or cloning.

Later, when another loose tooth began to annoy her, she called me to her room, put my finger in her mouth, and with both our fingers in there, she wiggled it out.

I had heard horror stories of kids with special needs becoming inconsolable at the loss of their baby teeth. Therefore, to prepare, I had gotten Constance several books about losing baby teeth. She also watched a PBS Kids video on the subject. When she began losing her baby teeth, Constance was far calmer about the experience than I was as a child. She did not freak out. She didn’t cry. She didn’t whine. She didn’t even put down the toy she was playing with. She was a cool kid. I think I could learn a lot from her about how to keep it together. WWCD

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