Can we slow ... down ... time?

She was complaining about one of her back teeth, and I took a look. She didn't have a cavity, but it looked like she might have chipped it. I was talking to Brian, my husband and her daddy, about it, telling him it was time for another dentist's appointment, and he asked me about her losing her teeth.

"Shouldn't she have lost a tooth by now?" He asked.

I assured him that kids often lose their teeth at different times and that her pediatrician even told me that kids who lose their teeth later go through puberty later.

"She can wait forever to lose a tooth if that's true," he said.

So, later that night, Tessa came up to me and said, "I have a wiggly tooth," and sure enough, one of her bottom front teeth was loose.

She jumped around, saying "I've got a wiggly, wiggly tooth, I've got a wiggly, wiggly, I've been waiting all these years for this."

I wouldn't say years, but months would be pretty accurate. My nephew, who is is six months younger than she is, has already lost teeth, and so have most of the kids in the neighbor who are close to her age.

Now, she is anxiously awaiting for it to fall out so she can put it under her pillow for the tooth fairy to visit.

I'm not. I told someone I was going to cry when it did fall out. I looked at her that day and realized she no longer looks like a baby or even a preschooler. She looks like a big girl and that's because she is one.

She picks out her own clothes in the mornings and has definite opinions when we go shopping for clothes. In fact, the new shoes we purchased for the school year are something called Sketcher's Twinkle Toes (very loud, very colorful canvas tennis shoes), and I would never have worn them.

I'm much more conservative in what I wear, while she likes bright colors, patterns and details. I often have to bite my tongue and let her express herself.

She has homework every night and worries about whether she gets an A or a B on her papers. I told her a B is a good grade and not to worry, but she's taking after me with wanting to make sure everything is perfect.

She seems to know so much more than I did at six, and in some ways, that scares me. I think we expect our children to grow up so much faster than we did.

For goodness sakes, I saw thong underwear for little girls when we were school shopping. I don't know why a six-year-old could need or want them or why a parent would even consider purchasing those for their child.

I guess I just want to keep her little for a lot longer, to shield her from the harsh truths of life. I want her to enjoy catching fire flies at dusk, to marvel at the sunset and wonder what life is like on the other side of the world, as she calls Australia.

I'm not ready for her to become a tween or pre-teen or whatever they call it these days. I still remember the teeny tiny baby she was just a few years ago, and even though I worried then, those worries were so much easier to deal with.

Maybe one of these days we will figure out how to freeze time. Until then, I'm stuck wondering why it has to all go by so fast.

-Tamara Belinc is a staff writer. She can be reached at tbelinc@t-g.com.