Never Thought Losing Teeth Would Be Related to Living in Oregon

August 17, 2013

I got a message from the mom of one of Gavin’s friends this week.

Her son and Gavin were horsing around in the back seat of the mini-van on the way to camp, and …wait for it…wait for it…you got it: Gavin lost a tooth. If you’re guessing this wasn’t a mere coincidence – that Mother Nature didn’t decide that exact moment was the perfect time for his tooth to come out, you’re right. Hahaha.

See, it was medium-loose…probably about 4 – 6 weeks from falling out on its own. (Using my non-existent dental training with that estimate there. Haha.)

She said Gavin was crying and bleeding, etc. You know, normal getting your tooth knocked out stuff. 🙂 She offered to bring Gavin home, but he said he wanted to go to camp. I knew he was fine once I heard that. She was very apologetic and felt terrible. Eh, stuff happens. I was totally fine with it.

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The story, however, takes a turn for the funny after I pick Gavin and his friend up from camp.

As soon as he spotted me waiting for him, he grinned, pointed to his mouth and gave me a thumbs up. Clearly delighted by this unexpectedly early rite of passage – phew!

When he and his friend wandered over to me, I said, “Buddy! Lost a tooth today, huh, pal? Let me see!” He grinned while his friend sheepishly said, “Well, uh, he didn’t exactly lose it… I kind of bumped it out of his mouth.” I told him it was ok and that accidents happen. I followed up with a question for Gav, “He bumped into you, bud? You’re fine, right?” To which his friend replied, “No…actually, it was a karate chop! (A karate chop? I am now dying and trying not to laugh out loud.) I meant to just get his lip, but I slipped and got his tooth.” Hahaha. Oh my. Gavin was cracking up at this point and added, “Yea, he just went like this (picture a freckle-faced red head with green eyes doing air karate chops in the general vicinity of his face).”

Oh my. A karate chop. A tooth gone.

What a tale to tell about how you lost your first tooth, right? I mean, really, this conversation is so happening over the next few weeks:

  • Stranger: “Hey! Lost your first tooth, buddy! How’d it come out?”
  • Gavin: “A good, old-fashioned karate chop to the mouth by my friend.” or a simple “Karate chop to the mouth.”

Gavin’s into the karate chop angle. In fact, he’s already exploiting it: he told Kenny that I knocked it out with a karate chop. Great.

At dinner that night, we asked Gavin a few more questions about what happened. He said that his friend karate chopped him, it hurt, he felt his tooth come out and was bleeding a lot. I asked if they had to pull the car over. Yep. They did. I asked if they take regular roads or the highway like I took on the way home. The highway. Oh my gosh! Now I felt bad! How scary for that mom – she had a crying, bloody Gavin in the back seat while driving on a six-lane highway and had to pull over to take care of him. Geez louise. Rough day for everyone.

Gavin’s had a few observations about the detriments of losing a tooth: 1) he can’t really eat “anything but ice cream or soft stuff”, and 2) he talks funny. I haven’t noticed that …really. That was the day it happened. However, the next day – that is, post-tooth-fairy visit, there’s been no complaints. 😉

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Before I close this one out – I actually had this thought: my kids starting to lose teeth is another ‘growing pain’ that comes along with living 3000 miles away from your family. I mean, I knew there’d be obvious changes – like my kids would grow taller, more mature, etc. in between visits with family…but I never realized that Christmas 2012 would be the last time many of our family members saw Gavin with a full set of chiclets. Hahaha! File under things I never thought about. 😉

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