We Are Losing It.

The theme for this week was "losing everything". You're probably thinking--but Heather, I've been with your family and you guys are ALWAYS losing stuff. What makes this week so special?

Well, we lost more stuff than usual. Body parts and members of the family. It was a week of losing stuff, but on steroids.

First off, June lost her first tooth. She has been very dismayed by the fact that she was the only kid in her class last year who hadn't lost a single tooth. I, on the other hand, LOVED it because baby teeth are cute and full smiles are cute and I'm already terrible at playing Santa and the Easter Bunny, so I'd rather not add Tooth Fairy to the list.

Nevertheless, the dentist pointed out that June did have a slightly wiggly tooth at her last visit. And June rejoiced.

That was weeks ago, and this week it was at FULL wiggle. And once when we were wiggling it, I noticed June's permanent tooth coming in full force behind the baby tooth. 

Shark attack!

If you know me, you know I love to pick at things. It's gross, but it's true, and seeing her wiggly tooth just dangling half out of her mouth was driving me nuts. I kept begging her to let me pull it out, but she refused.

FINALLY, it was barely hanging by a thread (shudder), and she let me pull it out.

That night, trying my best to play Tooth Fairy but also trying my best not to stay up too late because I'm terrible at that, I snuck into her room twenty minutes after she went to bed. so that I could sneak a dollar under her pillow. June had had me write a note to the Tooth Fairy asking to please LEAVE the tooth because she wants to keep it forever (double shudder), so I didn't have to touch the ol' thing, but just needed to casually slip the money under the pillow and be gone. I tiptoed in and June was sound asleep. I reached up to her pillow and she flipped over WIDE AWAKE and asked, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"I was just coming to check on you and see how you are doing!!!" I replied.

She bought that, and I later returned to her room to finish the job.

The morning, she was excited to show me the money and that the Tooth Fairy had let her keep her tooth. Hurrah.

Of course, since then, she has lost the tooth multiple other times. Every time she asks me, "Have you seen my tooth?" it reminds me of the terribly yucky feeling I had as a kid when my siblings and I let our gerbil loose in the house, and we never found it. Can't wait to stumble across that old gross tooth one day. I guess it's better than a gerbil skeleton.

New smile!

The other big loss we experienced was June herself. I felt brave and took all four kids by myself to the library for story time. There were loads of kids at story time, but I had a couple of friends there and everyone was extremely helpful and kind.

After story time ended, I called out to my kids, "Let's head out to the car." I was wearing Beck on my chest, and bent over to help Gwen and Harris into the double stroller. I turned around and June was gone.

My June is a wanderer. So I calmly checked the aisles and the corners of the library. She was nowhere to be found.

I told one of my friends that I couldn't find June, and she asked if I had checked out by the car. We had to park really far away that day because the lot was full, so I ended up parking at the community center. I told my friend there was no way June would have tried to navigate herself that far, but I did check outside the library to see if she was there. 

She wasn't.

By this time, several minutes had passed, and I alerted all of the librarians. We were all searching, and the feeling of the search had turned to frantic. In my heart, I could feel the Spirit telling me all was okay. So I held onto that peace. But still, I couldn't help but think of all of the terrible child-snatching news stories I had read recently. And it's not like I could tell everyone--don't worry! I know she's okay. Searching for a child is serious business, good feeling or not.

Maybe ten minutes had passed by this time. Ten minutes is three hours in "child searching" time. We had checked bathrooms, closets, outside and around the building, and I finally hustled over to where I had parked the car. 

Where I found June waiting for me.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?!?!" I shouted. 

"You said it was time to go to the car," June replied.

I'm speaking the truth when I tell you this was the first time ever that one of my kids had done something the first time I had said it. 

I asked her why she would go without me. I never send her off without me.

She didn't know. She was embarrassed and scared and crying and asked me if we could please stop talking about it.

Poor girl. Poor me.

Especially poor me.

A lost tooth, a lost kid, and a mother's lost sanity.

One thing we have not lost, however, is our patriotic spirit. On the Fourth of July, we did fireworks as a family for the first time, and the kids thought it was awesome.

I also reflected on the loss of my father, Douglas Beck, who passed away on the Fourth of July 9 years ago. My dad was one of the most honest people I had ever met. He made people laugh, and he played by the rules. These two don't always go together, and I'm grateful for his example on how to achieve both.

And another tender moment this week was when I found June "lost" in a book. 

I have been working to cultivate a love of reading in our home for years now, and it hasn't exactly been automatic. But June's reading skills have really taken off the past couple of months, and she has enjoyed several easy readers ON HER OWN this summer. A huge blessing to me.

And we are on our fourth Ramona book for our read aloud time every night.

And last, and also least--I continue to try to do the girls' hair, but I'm starting to think I'm losing this battle.

This morning, I was determined to do new and fun hairstyles on the girls for church.

June's was simple enough--a hair bow made from her hair--and she seemed pleased with the results.

Gwen's choice, on the other hand, took a very long time. And she let me know it was taking a very long time. She was cranky, and I was cranky. But I was determined to finish.

After I was all done, I found Dan and whispered, "Hey, will you go look at Gwen's hair and tell her how awesome it looks?!" 

So Dan tracked her down, looked at her hair, and then I heard him say, "Wow, Gwen, your hair looks totally crazy!"

THANKS, DAN! 

I don't know if I'll ever get to do her hair again.

Here's the gang dressed in patriotic colors for church!

And Beck and I stayed home for one last Sunday. Back to church next week!

The End.