MOTHERHOOD...It's Not for Wusses!!!

As a mom, you know that when the school calls and the first words spoken are "Mrs. Radovcich? Nick is O-KAY...but" ...it's not good. Brace yourself..."he has had a little accident and lost a couple of teeth...we think you should come get him and take him to the dentist...right away." Exhale. Okay, no big deal...I know one was loose and probably the other too. So, I take Luke to a friend's and call the dentist on my way to school. As I walk through the door I see the principal pacing...obviously waiting for me. My heart stops...this is NOT good.

"Are you Mrs. Radovcich?"

"Yes."

"Nick has had a pretty bad accident...he has lost several teeth."

"What? Several? Exactly how many?"

"Well, we have three in milk...and the roots too...we are pretty sure one is an adult tooth..."

"Okay" breathe...

So, I walk in and there is my baby sucking on a bloody, wet, paper towel, whimpering...my heart breaks. He is so brave though...I think I would be screaming on the floor. So, I give him a big hug, tell him everything will be okay, collect his teeth in the bag of milk and off we go to the dentist.

No sooner do we sit down in the waiting room and he, still bleeding from the mouth, decides to play with the waiting room toys. I guess not even a busted mouth can over rule the draw of toys. All the other kids waiting decide those toys don't look so appealing after all, they sit back and stare at Nick instead. Yes, it was awkward and thankfully, we didn't have to wait long. (Don't worry, he didn't bleed on the toys...no, I wouldn't let that happen. He had a paper towel in his mouth.)

The dentist was wonderful. She re-implanted his lower front adult tooth, which is now splinted to his other tooth and gave us the other two for the Tooth Fairy. We had a consultation with an endodontist to see if we can save the tooth and will see a orthodontist this week to see if it really needs to be saved.

On our way out the door Nick acts like nothing ever happened...he proceeds to run on the ice and play in the snow like it is any ordinary day. My heart is still beating rapidly and all I want is to wrap him up in bubble wrap and make him sit on the sofa...and never move again, ever.

So, today, he is better. His mouth his a little swollen but he is back to school and with a great story tell and two teeth to show. Coinicidentally, his class started a lesson on teeth yesterday. As for me, my heart has returned to a normal rhythm but a part of me still wants to keep him locked up inside for a while. I realized last night that you have to be tough to be a mom...it definitely isn't for wusses!!!

In case you were wondering, no, he didn't slip on ice. He was in P.E. playing a game. Apparently the kids had to use motion, rather than their hands to keep a scarf on their bodies. They had to move fast enough so it wouldn't fall off. He had his eyes on the scarf and ran into a podium. I think maybe they won't do that exercise for a while. The good news is, he is going to make out quite well from the Tooth Fairy. Rumor has it she loves teeth with the roots in tact.