just one more day (day 14)

I've been dragging out the 30 Day Blog Challenge thing since November. It's almost March. Ope.

Your earliest memory.

Oooff. Toughie. I have several very distinct memories from the late nineties and early ohs. Preschool. My brother. Stuffed animals. The birth of my younger sister and brother. 9/11. I have a pretty solid memory. On an executive decision, I'm going to say that my earliest memory is that of acquiring a chipped tooth at approximately age three.

Half of my backyard is covered in concrete, which was pretty sweet during the elementary school summers because it meant riding my bike within the convenience of my own home and also serving as a gigantic canvas for many chalked masterpieces. It was, however, complete hell for knees and elbows, which had a tendency to scrape easily, especially for a chubby and uncoordinated toddler like yours truly. One day, I was running around in tights and teeny-tiny Mary Janes, tripped over a crack and promptly fell flat on my face, mouth open. I slammed my upper jaw on the ground and chipped one of my front teeth. I lay on the ground in that odd position for a full minute before I remembered to sob. In the middle of my misery, I swallowed the detached tooth shard.

I lost the tooth a year later, shortly after I started preschool. I got fifty cents from the Tooth Fairy. My friend got a whole dollar and I felt slighted until she pointed out that my tooth had been damaged goods, so of course the Tooth Fairy wasn't going to pay full price.

Strangely, I didn't feel much better after she told me this.

Now that I don't have it anymore, I've developed a sort of fondness for my chipped tooth. My mother's picture-taking golden days were around the same time, so most pictures of little me include the chipped tooth. Back then, I thought it was no big deal. Little me was kind of awesome that way--I really did not care about my chipped tooth, or if anyone made fun of me for it. If I had a chipped tooth now, I don't think I'd feel the same way.

What I wouldn't give to be little for just one more day.