Let's Celebrate... without food!

www.DrWeigh.com

My son lost his first tooth yesterday. It was really exciting. The tooth had been dangling and we knew it would be falling out soon. But I didn't realize how truly happy I would be when it finally came out. It hit me that my little boy is growing up. Wasn't I nursing him yesterday, praying that his teeth wouldn't grow in and hurt my boob? Time really does fly.

As I came in the door, he ran over to me. "Mommy, mommy. My tooth fell out at school today!" He was bubbling over with excitement. He sat me down and told me all about how he was playing basketball and tripped and boom- the tooth flew out of his mouth. He was laughing as he explained how everybody got on their hands and knees to hunt for his missing tooth. By the end of the story, I was laughing too.

And what was my next reaction? "Let's celebrate!" I then (almost) added, "Who wants ice cream?" That is how we celebrated everything in my house growing up. Piano recital? Hot fudge sundaes. Graduation? Banana splits. Good grade on a test? Well, you get the drift. It wasn't until I was a teenager that I realized my father would use any excuse to go for ice cream. And I grew up, as did many others, associating celebrating with eating fattening foods.

I don't want that for my children. But how do we celebrate the tooth without eating lots of calories and fat? Hmmm... I thought about that long and hard. Let's reward him with something he would like, that doesn't cost too much, and isn't bad for his health. "Let's go ice skating this weekend to celebrate!" I suggested. He immediately broke into a huge grin. "That's a great idea!" So- this weekend, we will go to the ice skating rink and spend a family day celebrating by doing an (active) activity that the entire family loves. I think that was a great solution!

Anybody else have other suggestions?