While most people have a sweet tooth, I don't.
I can clearly remember when I started not liking chocolate and other sweets. Although, sometimes I eat a bite.
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I was seven years old, carefree, and jolly... in my world. But I was the opposite whenever I was out, being exposed to other people outside.
One day, when I went home from school I saw a "balikbayan" box on the floor.
"Whose box is this, Mama?" I asked my mom, who was then cooking our snack. She was frying some toron, a Filipino snack made from ripe bananas wrapped in spring roll wrappers. This snack was also sprinkled with some sugar.
"Oh, that's from your aunt, who works abroad. We'll sort it out later."
My eyes sparked with my mom's words. The first thing that came to my mind was gifts. I waited with excitement until Mom finished what she was doing.
When all the snacks were cooked, I hurriedly munched on my share of toron. I chose the one with the most sprinkled sugar.
I used to love sweet food. Sometimes, I would even scoop a spoonful of sugar and powdered chocolate drink, Milo, especially when I was left alone in the house.
After eating, Mama and I opened the box while my siblings were playing outside. I was so excited to pull out the clothes and boxes of chocolate and eat as much as my stomach could hold.
That night, I wasn't able to sleep well because my tooth hurt. I was crying and woke my parents up. My siblings were sleeping soundly.
"What happened?" Papa asked.
"I think I ate way too much sugar. My loose tooth is falling out."
I cried a lot. Because of the excitement of seeing sweet food, I forgot that I have a loose tooth. And since it was nighttime, and no dentist clinic was open, my father thought of something I consider "genius."
"Show me your tooth."
I opened my mouth, and Father shook it a bit.
I winced. Although the tooth was really about to fall, it hurt.
Papa took some red thread. He tied one end of the thread to my loose tooth while he tied the other end of it to the doorknob.
"Close your eyes," Papa said. And without another word, he opened the door of our room and closed it as soon as he opened it, pulling my tooth without me realizing it.
Mama handed me a glass of warm water with salt. She asked me to gargle it.
"How do you feel? Does it hurt?" she asked.
I shook my head, smiled, and felt the gap in my gum with my tongue. I couldn't believe that Papa had pulled my tooth without sweating.
"Don't show your teeth gap. It won't grow if a lizard sees it," Papa said.
"For real?" I innocently asked. I looked at my mom and gave her puppy dog eyes, silently asking her to tell me the truth.
"Of course not! Your papa's joking," Mama said.
Since that night, I decided not to eat too much sweets anymore.