Things that make you go ewwwww.

My daughter has her first loose tooth.

GROSS.

It's funny, actually. A friend posted on facebook the other day that her daughter had lost her second tooth, and I stopped and thought, "wait, she's younger than Ella, and Ella hasn't lost any teeth yet!"

This is how my life works...a couple days later...BAM! Ella has an actual loose tooth. (It's the right tooth in the bottom middle, just in case you wonder about those things.) I say "actual" because last year, when a few of her pre-school friends were losing teeth, we had a lot of "pretend" loose teeth.

But no, I felt it. It's DEFINITELY loose.

It started in the car on the way home from Pop's house.
Ella: "Mom, my tooth hurts. I think it might be loose."
Kat: "Sure, honey, we'll check it out when we get home." (eye roll)

Then, during her shower:
Kat: "Let's check out that tooth. OH MY GOD...it really is loose!"
Ella: "I know, I'm so excited!"
Kat: "Mommy is going to be sooo grossed out."
Ella: "Let's go show her!"
(Me, downstairs: "NO THANKS!!!")

Yep.

I went to college to be an elementary school teacher. I changed my major to secondary education (specifically middle school) for two reasons:

NO snow pants and NO LOOSE TEETH.

I can deal with poop and vomit.  Cat vomit on the floor? No problem, hand over the paper towels and I'll scoop it up.  Overflowing toilet? Give me the plunger. Baby mouse limping around the kitchen after the cats have played with it? I'd love to help you out and grab it by the tail and toss it out in the bushes.The cat sitter flushed all the non-flushable litter and blocked up the pot? Sure, I'll sit on the floor and scoop out nasty 2-week-old clay from the icy water. Kid poops in the tub? No biggie, I'll just pluck it out with some Lysol wipes.

(Don't worry, I always wash my hands afterwards....)

Kid has a loose tooth? My gag reflex kicks in immediately (it's even happening as I type, much to my dismay) and I'm all tucked up shoulders and eyes squeezed shut, one dry-heave away from losing my lunch.

When I was an aquatics director and spent most of my day teaching swim lessons, my mid-age kids loved to show me their loose teeth, and I'd gag and squeal and hide my face. Then the 45 minutes would pass and they'd go on their way, to lose said teeth at school or at dinner or swallow them in their sleep.

Last year, I had a couple 7th graders lose teeth in my class, and I'd gag and squeal and rush them off to the nurse's office and that would be that.

But my own daughter....I'm going to have to watch that tooth get looser and looser, until it's hanging by a thread at a funny angle, and she pushes it around  with her tongue, and GOD FORBID if the frigging thing decides to come out when Kat's not home!!! This is just the first one....how am I going to manage this????

Like I said, GROSS.