You wouldn’t be completely crazy to think this post was going to be about the gap between the train and the platform, which would make perfect sense, unless you are a parent of a 5+ year old.
There is a bit of a status symbol involved in losing your teeth (oh yeah, just so you know, that is what the whole ‘gap’ thing is all about) and this is something I never knew about as a new parent, and no one ever really mentioned it. But being a wise mum of a five-year-old I now know, that it symbolises you being a ‘big kid’ instead of a ‘little kid’, fair enough.
I have a learnt a few teethy facts along the way to the gap my daughter now sticks her tongue and all vegetables through, charming and most appetising!
When your child reaches the tender age of five, they start to notice other kids flicking lose teeth with their tongues and desperately trying to yank their teeth out, the general topic over the dinner table is teeth and who has lost the most, who is in the process and the most important of questions “when will I, Mum?” I was mortified that she was so desperate to lose them! After all the sleepless nights (mine) and the pain (her’s and mine) those teeth are like gold to me!

Image courtesy of M – Pics at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Okay, so the first wobble begins, it’s all very exciting, and I have to admit, I am excited! Why? I have no idea, but it feels a bit like New Years Eve just before the midnight fireworks. I also start to feel a bit sad, what is that all about? She’s growing up, those little milk teeth are dropping like flies (two gone and two wobbly now) and I now want to stick them back in (is that legal?, will keep you posted)
Now, this is what I really was not prepared for, “what does the tooth fairy do with the teeth?” I have no idea what to say, as this little gappy smile stares back at me, I rack my brain to think of a really amazing answer, after all, this is my only shot at it, If I don’t come up with the goods I could damage her for life! (I am a bit dramatic at times) it would have to be a mystical magical story, right? Usually quick on my feet I say “I don’t know”. Luckily Grandma has an amazing story (which I am pretty sure she never shared with me … could have come in handy right about now Mum!) so, the story is that the tooth fairy takes the teeth to make tooth fairy houses, brilliant! So that’s why you have to keep your teeth nice and shiny and clean (why didn’t I think of that?!) perfect!

Image courtesy of adamr at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
I have decided to keep the teeth, is that weird?
Will she appreciate that at her eighteenth birthday when I rip out the box of old milk teeth in front of her uber cool mates? I think not, but there is no way I am letting go, I can’t! Not yet, is it the teeth I am holding onto? Or my baby girl that is growing up way too fast for my liking, like a steam train that is speeding through stations and forgetting to stop!
Well, for now I’ll keep those baby teeth, I’ll know when the time is right to let them go, maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but until then, MIND THE GAP!