I came across a great meme the other day that’s summing up my life at the moment.
It said –
Amen to all of that, although I’d change the beer to a large glass of wine at this stage!
Yep, I’m knee deep in teething land at the moment and I think myself and the Teething Fairy need a serious talk right now. My 8 month old baby boy just cut his first tooth last week, so although I feel like I’m right in the throes of it, actually I’m only really at the start of a very long teeth journey, when you consider how many teeth the average little kid has.
20.
Yes 20.
I had to Google it.
10 on the top and 10 on the bottom and we’re only on tooth numero uno! Yeah… I’m going to need more wine! All joking aside, my little lad’s been a trooper really considering his gums have been giving him jip for yonks. In fact, he’s pretty much been drooling like a St Bernard and chewing his little hands since about 3 and a half months and we’re only just seeing the first tooth now. It’s such a drawn out process for them and it’s bloody awful to see them in pain. Of course, not all babies seem to suffer with their teeth as badly as others and as I’m learning, each little baba is very different and does things at their own pace. My baby boy has coped pretty well so far, but I still hate seeing his cheeks on fire, the red raw gums and drooling rash; and let’s not mention the disturbed sleep, which is like some sort of cruel grenade thrown in there just when you thought you had this whole sleeping malarkey cracked! I’m also firmly with the old school brigade when it comes to the belief that teething causes runny nappies, red bums and temperatures, even though my doctor denied the whole thing!
‘That’s all an old wives tale, teething doesn’t cause temperatures or bad nappies’ my doctor declared as she smiled at me with a slightly condescending, sage-like voice.
Clearly this woman has never actually met the evil bitch that is the Teething Fairy then, because from what I’ve seen teeth have a lot to answer for.
Nevertheless, the first tooth feels like a real milestone to pause for. I’ve never been the sort of mum who’s big on keeping up with supposed milestones. My philosophy is that my little dude will do things at his own pace. He’ll crawl when he’s ready, he’ll walk when he’s ready and he’ll start chatting away when he decides it’s the right time for him. That said, when I felt the sharp little tooth in his mouth the other day I was a wee bit emotional. Part of me is sort of sad that we’re saying goodbye to his gummy baby smile that charms the pants off every granny in a 10 mile radius! But the other part of me is proud that my little bundle of cuteness is growing up and I’m looking forward to seeing what his little smile will be like with the addition of teeth.
All motherly gushing aside though, teething is a complete bitch. And the more you think about teething the more you start to wonder about it? Why or why did the powers that be think it was a good idea to put babies and toddlers through the pain of having all their milk teeth come up little by little, then as a cruel joke make the whole lot fall out and replace them with a new set? I imagine it’s the same entity who thought it was a good idea to grow a tiny human inside another one and only leave a small opening for he or she to emerge!