Friday, September 30, 2011

Teeth Stories (may sound boring, but you would be amazed..ok maybe not).

Yesterday (no-sterday as Ellie used to joke), I took Ben to the dentist.  He was super duper excited to get out of school early (by 30 whole minutes!) and even more excited by the prospect of receiving a FREE toy (no cereal purchase necessary).  He explained on the car ride how his stomach felt fluttery all day contemplating his toy.  Can I just say here how much we adore Ben's dentist?  They have a "movie" theme, and I am all about a good theme.  They have movie seating facing a large screen continually playing a children's movie.  Then each patient is laying below a screen playing the same movie while being worked on.  It is brilliant!  Everyone working at the dentist's office seems to genuinely enjoy children.  I mean they are so friendly it is almost a Saturday Night Live skit.





[caption id="attachment_4166" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="No more baby teeth, now he is a tie wearing man."]


[/caption]

At the end of kindergarten, Ben complained that he was one of two who had not lost a tooth yet.  How disappointing.  Recently his bottom 2 teeth have been hanging on precariously.  When the hygenist began to clean Ben's teeth, one of the 2 wobbly bottom ones fell out, the adult tooth already peeking through.  I whooped with excitement.  Then felt as if I was going to start sobbing (like that takes a lot of work these days).  So instead I kept whooping.  Which was weird because, hello, it is a dentist's office and somewhat quiet-ish like a library.

If we were in a movie or television show right now, the screen would go fuzzy, alerting all that we are entering a flashback scene.  Ellie and I were sitting at the dining room table, Ellie's tooth was way way wobbly.  I was concerned she was actually going to swallow it as she was eating.  She was only five, which in my mind, seemed way way too young to have a loose tooth.  She had begun chemotherapy, and as with so many strange occurences in her body at the time, I blamed the chemo.  I do not recall what I

 



Show me your teeth...grrrr.
said to encourage her, but suddenly, Ellie reached in and grabbed that tooth out of her head.  Just like that.  Leaving me speechless (and you know how often that happens!)

Fast forward to that evening, when Ellie was refusing to go to bed.  Not that unusual for Ellie (she told her 5th grade aide that the one thing she regretted most about her summer vacation was sleeping.)  Somehow, I could tell her refusal that night was somewhat different.  I finally realized that she was afraid of the Tooth Fairy.  I asked if it would be alright with her if we just pretended and I could be the Tooth Fairy.  She liked that plan and was then willing, if not eager, to go to bed.

[caption id="attachment_4163" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Those two top teeth are holding on for dear life."][/caption]

When we were on our Make-A-Wish trip, Ellie had two extremely wobbly teeth.  I think in every photo from the trip, those 2 teeth are in another position.  At this point, she adamently refused, as Ben is now, to assist the teeth in any way.  I think one of the teeth came out as Thom was brushing.  Thom thought it was a bit of food, when he realized, that said food, was actually a tooth.

Now I have a confession to make.  We never ever took Ellie to the dentist.  Yikes!  Bad mommy.  I am pretty sure she had a cavity.  At least one.  And that is from what I could see with my eye.  I shudder to think what all they would've found (maybe some left over sausage from the sausage-loving years?) Over her last year, I repeatedly tried to get a dentist set up during one of her surgeries.  Alas, brain tumors always take precedence over teeth.  Weird, huh?  I just knew trying to have her sit still while someone messed around in her mouth would be a nightmare for everyone involved.

[caption id="attachment_4165" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Regretfully, Ellie sleeps."][/caption]

When she was maybe 9, she was sitting on the coach and one of her back teeth fell out.  Oh boy.  Thom called an emergency children's dentist to find out what we should do.  We were convinced it was our lack of dental care that had caused the fallen tooth.  Instead, the dentist told us that those back ones fall out too.  Again, much whooping insued, this time, amongst the loudness and comfort of our own home.

Last night, Ben placed his baby tooth in the specially bought (thank you dollar store!) Tooth Fairy pillow.  This morning, Ben quickly checked the pillow and found a shiny quarter.  This weekend we plan to watch The Tooth Fairy in honor of his first baby tooth loss.  Most likely, we will also be making a trip to Dig-n-Save to spend that shiny quarter.  I love that Ben so desperately wants to believe in the Tooth Fairy and Santa Clause.  Even amongst all the rumors at school.  A few weeks ago, he asked me, while we were sitting in traffic for REAL if there was a Santa or not.  I paused, because I so thoroughly did not want this to be THAT moment in his life.  Luckily for us all, Lotta started wailing, causing a distraction, and saved me from that conversation.

 
Posted by at
Labels: ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)