A mop of red curls caught my eye as they skipped by my office door. Two seconds later, the curls were back. I had been spotted. H poked his head in. “Hi Ms. Carey!” he said then immediately held something up between two fingers and shook.
“Oh! You lost a tooth!” I exclaimed, recognizing the sound of tooth against plastic.
H nodded and grinned and pointed to the place the tooth had been. I told him how my own kindergartener had lost the same tooth the week before. I pictured her small plastic tooth box, a gift from the school nurse, adorning our kitchen counter.
Loosing a tooth at school and getting a necklace, is a rite of passage of sorts. A small joy that can be a really big deal if you are five or six years old.
As we get ready to close the door on another school year, that small tooth box has me thinking about the other small, seemingly unimportant bits that students will carry with them as they head into summer. Can they even recognize them now? Or will it be something that comes back to them, unexpectedly, twenty years from now when something jogs their memory?
Where There Is Joy 
We’ll isn’t that cute image followed by deep contemplative questions. Now you e got me thinking about my own memories from kindergarten…the inflatable letters stand out!
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Powerful ending!
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Your title is perfect for your story and it works on so many different levels. Thank you for the inspiration today. 🙂
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Ooooh, the tiny things with such big bangs in our lives. Love the tooth analogy – – the rites of passage and the memories that leave us to carry what we take away from those moments.
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Jessica, I can’t help but think of how losing a tooth gives a child a sense of importance and accomplishment. These are memories worth documenting. Have a lovely summer.
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Oh those small joys. And yes, I do think this memory will be one that comes back in years down the road.
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Ah childhood. I loved when I taught 2nd grade. We made tooth-shaped pillows and created a little ritual for all those fallen teeth and toothless grins. Thanks for making me remember.
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