oh, and the tooth fairy can go to hell.

Here's a question plaguing me:

Why the heck do we give money to KIDS for LOSING their teeth, instead of giving it to their PARENTS for dealing with the teeth coming IN? I want to wake up after a long night (or week) with a teething baby and find $5 under my pillow. Money with which I will buy myself an overpriced coffee and probably a donut or two because I haven't slept well in a long time, and damn it all if I don't deserve a few maple bars.

Yo, Tooth Fairy.
Those kids who are losing their teeth?
Big freaking deal.
How about a little love for their dads and moms? You know, the middle of the night doctors and nurses, the gum massagers, the rock back to sleepers, the snugglers, the Tylenol dispensers, the very people who help usher those painful tiny pearly whites through a baby's gums, only to then see those beautiful hard-fought teeth fall out a few years later to much fanfare?
HOW ABOUT THOSE PEOPLE, YOU BLIND USELESS FAIRY?


Yesterday Clara woke up around five, but not quite awake, more like crying in a painful nightmare, her eyes glued shut with sleep but big tears still rolling down her cheeks. Her 12-month molars are trying to break through, and when she gets upset in her sleep like that, all she wants is to nurse. I mean, she hasn't actually nursed for a month, mostly because it hurts while I'm pregnant, and I'm almost positive there's no milk anyways, but sometimes that's all she'll take as comfort. Why oh why this girl never took a binky, I will never understand. But even nursing wasn't helping yesterday. Nothing was helping. Not a snuggle, not a warm shower, nada. So we made breakfast at 6:45, and around 7:15 I woke up with my face in the scrambled eggs. I picked my head up off the table and saw Clara slumped over, asleep in her high chair. I snapped these pictures before I put her back to bed, where she slept peacefully until 10:30 a.m., allowing me to finish my homework, clean up the house, and even drink some coffee. Small mercies, oh hallelujah :)

I love this girl. I love her dark hair, I love her blue eyes, I love the face she makes when she is thinking about disobeying, I love the way she yells my name across the house, I love how she stops everything to come find me for a kiss, I love watching her mind work, I love her spunk and her sass and I love being her mama. Scrambled eggs in my hair kind of mornings and all.



But the tooth fairy can still suck it.