Too expensive a tooth

I could be the only person in this world who actually looked forward to having my teeth pulled out. 

While the other children my age associated it with pain and blood, I saw it as the ultimate sign that I was no longer a little girl, that I was growing up, that I was gradually approaching adulthood.

For some reason, I loved the gap that my missing front teeth created, and was not offended when my neighbours jokingly mocked me, saying that a train could easily pass through.

My mother is the one who decided whether my teeth were ready to come off or not. She would periodically ask me to open my mouth, and using her right thumb and index finger, shake a tooth. If it was not loose enough to remove painlessly, she would remind me to wiggle it often, to help loosen it. Once loose enough to pull out, all I endured was a few seconds of discomfort and slight bleeding.

I must admit that once or twice I kicked and screamed when my dad insisted on plucking out one that wasn’t loose enough, but generally, my experience was smooth sailing.

I don’t know how you did it, but when a tooth was ready to come off, I was encouraged to eat a big piece of ugali to help dislodge it. Once, I swallowed a tooth with the ugali!

When a tooth that had no business being in the mouth became stubborn, daring me would tie a string around it and ask my neighbours kids to have a turn at pulling it out. They would of course have a ball while doing it.

NEW TEETH

Once, I used a rusty pair of pliers to knock down a tooth – I was that fearless and determined to get a new set of teeth.

That is why I sigh when I see what a big deal pulling out teeth has become today. Nowadays, it is so serious a matter, parents take their children to a dentist. Even more outrageous, it costs 1,000 bob, if not more, to pull out one tooth.

To my utter disappointment, I have noticed that all my neighbours children take a trip to the dentist to have their teeth pulled out.

When I ask their parents why they pay to have it done instead of doing it themselves, their response is normally that it is too much hard work, and would be too painful for their children to bear.

From this, I have gathered that patience is a virtue that most parents lack today, not to mention being too ready to make their children’s lives too smooth, even when it is completely unnecessary.

I have also noticed that children today are not proud of their bare gums, which I saw as a rite of passage. They hide the gaps as if they are something to be ashamed of. I, of course, have decided to do it the old fashioned way with my daughter Nicole.

The first time I removed her loose tooth, she screamed, kicked, and raised such a ruckus, the entire estate came to my doorstep to find out what was happening. They stood there in disbelief, looking at me as if I was conducting a kidney operation.

ADULT EXPERIENCE

Some even went as far as calling me a miser. However, I just did what the dentist would have done, though in his case, he would have used some fancy-looking equipment to do it, while I used my hands.

I must say though, that the experience made my daughter and I closer.

I took the opportunity to explain to her the importance of removing her milk teeth, and assured her that she was still my pretty little girl, gap and all.

My daughter now brags to her friends about her ‘adult’ experience, and is also noticeably braver and more willing to give new experiences a try.