by My 7 yo and her calamities will be the reason I’m completely gray by January of next year. No kidding.
Busy day today. Friday mornings are reserved for Bible study and lunch, usually here at my house, with my parents. Our recent six inch snowfall, and the slippery hill up to our home made an easy excuse for me to pack up the girls and my half of our lunch and go over to Mom and Dad’s. Main reason, we have four-wheel drive. They don’t!
We had a great time with them, and afterward headed North to one of my favorite shopping towns…hoping to find the “perfect gift” for my nephew, in time for tonight’s birthday party. Mission accomplished, and in time to swing by Baskin Robbins for ice creams all around. (You would have thought I was Santa Claus, btw, my girls were that excited about single dips!)
We arrive home with just enough time to put away groceries and get everyone changed into party clothes and while I’m in the shower I hear those words every parent hopes they never hear while they’re in the shower…or anywhere else, for that matter: “MOM! Come quick, (7 yo) is hurt, BAD!”
Argh! What does BAD mean anyway? That I still have time to rinse the soap off, or that I need to wear bubbles to the ER?
The high-pitched wailing soon answers my question. I’m toweling off as my daughter stumbles into the bathroom, blood all over her chin and running out her mouth. Immediately I do what all parents do when faced with a crisis. Pray. Actually, it was more of a yelp for help. I hollered to 10 yo to look up the dentist’s phone number in the phone book and got an instant migraine when I saw two of my 7yo’s upper middle teeth hanging sideways and shoved back in her mouth.
Why is it, when things like this happen, you can’t remember ANYTHING? I honestly think that is why husbands are so necessary. Yes. Anyway. I could NOT remember if my dear girl had lost BOTH upper front teeth! I knew she’d lost one, and thought she’d lost both, I mean, don’t most kids lose their two front uppers and bottoms early on in their tooth loss journey? I knew one of the ones dangling was a primary tooth, but the other one looked dangerously adult!
I know something about myself now. When it comes to my children, I am not good in a crisis. I managed to get myself dressed and OF COURSE, it’s after dentist hours, so I bother mine at home, only one problem, he’s not home, not even near our fair city. OF course. But his wife is a gem and gives me all of his dentist friends’ phone numbers. Hee hee. Only they’re not home either, nor at their offices, nor answering their tellies. Maybe they know better on Friday nights. A-hem.
So hubby FINALLY gets home. Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you what happened while I was in the shower. Evidently in their excitement over aforementioned birthday party, and possibly still high on Jamoca Oreo ice cream cones, my two oldest girls were wrestling around (yes, girls rough-house too, amazing isn’t it?) and oldest kicked middle in the mouth. So oldest is weeping the whole time, heartsick that she’s left her dear sis maimed for life. Because mother dear (that’d be me) was absolutely sure that it was a permanent tooth hanging half in and half out of 7yo’s mouth. And I’m really praying by now, because when I ran out of dentist numbers to harass, I tried calling my parents, and both sisters and couldn’t get through to ANY of them to have them pray!
Hubby and his parents are all here by now and having a pow-wow crouch around 7 yo’s open mouth. Of course, all the bleeding has subsided and it’s easier to see that the duo teeth are both primary. THANK YOU, Lord! Our dentist’s wife called around that time and said her hubby would be back in town in an hour and a half, and would meet us at his office. So we sent our 10 yo and our 3.5 yo along to the birthday party with their grandparents, and sweet-talked 7 yo into yanking the looser of the teeth out herself. The dentist easily got the other one out, and pronounced it good to go.
When we got to the birthday party, 7 yo ran up to big sis and said, “Thank you for knocking out my teeth!” Seriously, it was a blessing, because 7 yo has a tooth condition in which her primary roots don’t dissolve, so her loose baby teeth take FOREVER to fall out. She usually has to have them removed by our dentist, so that her permanent ones have a shot at coming in straight. So, yes, “all things do work together for good.”
Btw, if your child does happen to lose one of their permanent teeth, don’t put it in milk (The ER told us to do that if it finished coming out–this was when I was convinced it was permanent). Our dentist said that the best thing to do, as long as you aren’t worried about it being swallowed, is to have them tuck it in their bottom lip. The saliva protects it and keeps it till the dentist can put it back. Getting them in quickly guarantees it will bond better and heal as good as new.
Well, my tooth fairy duties are calling me. How much do you think these two teeth should be worth?
I think the kids should pay the tooth fairy for these two! Yikes!
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ouch! I hope she’s ok. Kids seem to be accident prone sometimes don’t they?
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Hey, now, Larry, that’s a good idea! My oldest, however, paid dearly emotion-wise. She wept for an hour, sure she’d ruined her sister’s smile for life. They now know how easily accidents happen! Hopefully the lesson will stick.
Amy, yes. And I seem to remember tripping all over myself at age eight, probably growing into my legs, etc. 😉 I hope this is 7 yo’s incident of the year. Ugh!
Wow…Having a boy already (and yours being girls) I can only imagine what I have in store for me as he gets older! Sounds like you paid enough in stress for those 2 teeth…but it sounds like you dealt with it well. Poor gal! Hope they had fun at the party anyways. Luckily it was both primary teeth…I feel anxious just reading that, I can only imagine how you must have felt! I hope you went home at the end of the day and had a nice hot relaxing shower to make up for your hurried one before!
Oh my goodness! What a crazy time you had! I know just how you feel, when it comes to my children and they are hurt, it takes me a bit to gain my head. I think it is because we love them so very deeply, and we dedicate ourselves to keeping them safe, that when something bad happens, it just cuts so deeply. I am so glad that it was just her baby teeth! That is wonderful news, and I love how it all worked out for the best in the end. God bless you all.
Well, it serves me right. I admit to feeling a bit smug in the past that my girls have pretty good heads on them and don’t often get themselves into dangerous situations…and now this! 😉 I also thought I was pretty good in a crisis. 3 wailing girls was more than I could handle! It’s no wonder I couldn’t think straight!
In answer to your question, Geri, I came home and wrote this post! It was excellent therapy! Then I gave into my lingering headache and fell in bed!
Oh Juli–it does cut deeply [Mary releases a ragged sigh!]…especially with all the super-duper hard stuff seeming to happen to this particular daughter. She has missed out on so many special things due to sickness or circumstances. And she’s a real trooper about it. But for this to have happened right before the b-day party, that almost hurt as badly as her poor bruised gums! We ended up only missing about an hour and fifteen minutes of the party, so she got in on a good hour of fun and games, and they waited presents on her! So nice!
Oh Wow! I got some BIG eyes at the supper table when I told this one. My 7 yo was sure worried for her.
I could SO relate about not remembering which teeth have been lost, etc. I always feel so neglectful when someone asks about one or a kid loses one at school and I’m like “Oh, he had a loose one?” 😮
THANK you! I’m so glad I’m not the only “loser” when it comes to keeping track of teeth lost and loose. 😉
When you head up north to go shopping in the city. Give me a call it is only about twenty min strait west. We would love to meet you for ice cream if you have a few min to spare.
That was quite the night! I’m no good in crisis either, but it sounds like you did an awesome job, Mom! When I was younger I fell and put my front teeth in to my bottom lip – no fun are those teeth/mouth accidents!
I cringed as I read your description! OUCH!! Poor baby! I am so glad she is all right.
Mary, you handled it way better than I would have. I am not calm during a crisis, I lose it, completely. My post today will show how much I lose it.
Btw, did you get the soap out of your hair?
Lol, yes, Leticia, I rinsed off so fast and felt guilty the whole time! Thankfully it wasn’t a complete waste of time (getting into the shower!) Oh boy, you’ve got a story to share too? Must have been a crazy weekend all around!
Thanks, Colleen, and OW! to your teeth in mouth incident! I really can’t believe how well our “trauma” turned out…except it took me all weekend to lose the slight headache!
Andrea, we’d love to meet you there sometime. Were you referring to T or M? In this post, I had gone to M. It’s about the same distance as T from us, so it wouldn’t matter either way. 😉 We’ll all be in T on Saturday for quiz bowl, but on the church’s schedule!
T is 20 min. E-mail me the details of quiz bowl. We will come cheer you on.
Will do, what fun we’ll have!!!
Mary, I would have rinsed as well, lol!
Lol! 😉 Good!
Stories like this really reminds of the great times we had when my kids were still young. Tooth loss has always been nerve-wracking for all of us in the house.
Especially when the tooth loss is so traumatic!!! Not sure I’d call it great times though!
Glad you stopped by, George!