Teething

10/17/12

She is drooling down her shirt and onto mine.  Chewing on her fist until it is bright red.  Kissing me with slobbery lips open wide. Then she cries and whimpers as she drifts to sleep on my chest.

It hurts a lot, this cutting of new teeth.  A whole lot for someone who is new to pain. She is not familiar with the sensation of growing.  All she knows is... it hurts.  And the mother part of me hurts for her and wishes I could make it stop.  The pain, that is, not the teeth. I want her to have teeth.  I want her to grow and become all the things she is going to be.  The growing pains... well... they are not fun.  And they don’t stop after you have 32 pearly whites in your face.  

Growth is hard.  Change is hard.  We are going through a massive upheaval in our lives right now, where everything is changing: our jobs, the city we call home, our daily routine, oh yes, and the most beautiful, drooling, teething, precious, smells-like-the-forest-after-rain, wonderful gift of a daughter.  They say that having a child changes everything.  Well, we decided to take that literally and move across the country.  And then across the world.  My bones ache just thinking about it.  I can feel the stretch marks inside my soul as we get ready to start this brand new adventure.

It’s not easy growing up.  It’s not easy doing new things.  It is scary and it hurts.  Sometimes it hurts a lot, and the only thing that will make it better is crying softly into the neck of someone who loves you, who can hold you close and tell you that, yes, it will be ok.  And yes, the pain has a purpose. And when you get through it, you will be able to eat chocolate.