Milestones: Family trips and baby teeth

How was your March break everyone? I hope you were able to enjoy some time with your children.

My kids and I spent part of the March Break in our favourite place: Niagara Falls. Rain or shine, there is no shortage of fun to be had there. We always stay at the same hotel, central to all of the action, and an easy distance to the falls.

In addition to our obligatory visit to Rainforest Cafe and a variety of arcades and funhouses, the highlight of our trip was actually experiencing the falls. This trip, we had scheduled visits to the Journey Behind the Falls and Niagara’s Fury attraction.

After a crisp, long walk to the falls, we donned our blue ponchos to witness Niagara’s Fury — truly a 4-D experience. Beginning with a short, animated feature, perfect for children, we were escorted into a dark room that looked like a circular deck of a cruise ship. We were told to hold on and expect to get wet! As the ground shook, a revolving screen showed how the falls came to be. It snowed, got very cold, rained and more. My son was in heaven, my daughter, not so much!

Following that, we plunged down an elevator shaft for our Journey Behind the Falls. The sounds overwhelm you as you walk through the long, damp tunnels. We were brought to the brink of the falls and it was amazing. The kids were both in awe and frightened simultaneously.

The kids were troopers but by 4 pm on our second day I was exhausted. Sheepishly, I admitted that “Mommy does not have the same level of energy as you two!” (Hail all single parents). We left full of adventures and memories and look forward to our next visit in the summer months.
Upon our return from our trip, we reached another milestone: My youngest child bit into a carrot, and with the utmost excitement, she declared that her tooth was loose. Her first tooth! Her eyes were wide open and bright, her smile wide! She was thrilled to say the least. Soon after, though, she began crying: ‘Mommy, what if it hurts coming out?’ I said: ‘Baby, I know you’re scared but there is no need to be, it will come out when it is ready.’ Of course her brother prodded her to wiggle it free but she would not be swayed.

While her emotions ran the gamut, internally, so did mine: ‘My little girl is growing up’ (Don’t you sometimes wish that you could capture them at age five and keep them there? They still love you, look up to you and want to emulate you...).

Yes. I know I have to accept that they are both growing up but there are days that you want to capture and keep — this was one of them. She immediately made a list of the people she wanted to tell about it and we set out making phone calls. (Now, to remember to get this tooth from the tooth fairy...)