Superhuman Mom Tricks!

Justin's Top Right First Molar

(Orthodontia Included)

I was sitting at my desk, happily working away, when I heard Justin fall up the stairs.  Yes, up. It's a common issue for him these days since his feet are about 4 sizes bigger than his brain realizes.  I heard him say, "Oh Shoot!" Again, this is nothing out of the ordinary so I kept working and didn't acknowledge him.   

"Mom?"

sigh..."Ugh"..."What is it now?"..."I am WORKING..."

"I lost a tooth!"

I guess I'm going to have to deal with this one.

No big deal.  He's 10 and it's a molar so we're right on track.  The issue is that he has braces, the tooth has a bracket on it, we're "new" in town (translated: I have not gotten around to finding an orthodontist yet), and it's a Holiday Week.  My question is, "Exactly WHO is going to get the tooth out of his mouth that is currently hanging from his wire?"

Google to the rescue!

I called the first place on my trusty Google List, but nobody answered.  At the next place, I got a message saying they're at lunch.  On the third call, the message says they're on vacation but I can dial 9 for "true dental emergencies only!"  I'm not a patient, I wonder how much they will appreciate my particular emergency?  I dialed a fourth office and happened to get a very kind Floridian working in the lab who tells me that the doctor is on vacation. The answer is becoming very clear to me. 

I broke the news to Justin.  I was doing the surgery.  He laughed! I laughed!  Here we go!

We put Justin on the couch, he bit down so that the tooth would stop dangling from the wire and grossing me out, and I went to work with the big guns!  Who needs dental tools?  We accomplished the job with a set of tweezers, a paper clip, and a pair of cuticle scissors.  To his credit, Justin was extremely brave as I came at him with my implements while squirming childishly at the disgusting tooth.  He laughed, made a joke about being in a psychologist's office, and smiled big as I started the work!  A few minutes later, after much coaching and encouragement from my son, out came the tooth and he was rinsing the "affected area" with salt water.  The excitement has died down and he's now back upstairs playing basketball with his sister.

Another successful day at the Dolby House!!!!

Twas the night before Christmas...

 

Twas the night before Christmas...

One of my biggest worries whenever we move is how the kids will adjust to their new schools.  I feel bad for them when they say good-bye at the old school, I feel excited with them when they see their new house, and I feel the fear they feel on the first day at the new school.  

Both kids were scared this time around, even though they won't admit it.  Justin told me, "Mom, the worst thing about the first day is that you don't even have someone to ask where things are."  Annalise would say in her prayers at night, "...and I know I'll always be OK as long as I keep my friends in my heart to guide me..."  

My heart was especially sad for Annalise this time around because she left a community that she had grown up with.  Her kindergarten friends stuck with her through the years and she was leaving some girls that she really loves.  On her first day of school, I worried and waited for her to come home and tell me how it went.  I'm pleased to say that she did great!  She made a friend and she said she loved her teachers. As long as we're admitting things here, the truth is that I miss Salt Creek and my friends so I understand what they're feeling because I was nervous to start over too.

I got my first chance to come to school this week and see Annalise's class.  Justin asked me to give him some space now that he's in 5th Grade, which I happily respected, and I did not go to his Holiday Party.  Annalise, on the other hand, is still young enough to want to show me her school life.  

As you can see, Annalise has adjusted as we would expect - just fine!  She's brought her love of reading with her to Valrico and she's in love with school just the way she always has been.  She was sick this week so we all hoped that she would be able to do her Narrator part.  Her voice came back just in time and she did great!  Her classroom here is a team setting where they have two classrooms and two teachers to take advantage of.  It's amazing!  The room they are in is set up as their reading area and it stays this way all year long.  Their desks are in the other room where they do their desk work and they move between the rooms all day long.  Her teachers work together and make all of the kids work just a little harder because, as both of my kids have mentioned, they can't get away with anything since there's always a teacher walking around.

We're still wearing Salt Creek shirts to school but I think we all feel comfortable now as Valrico Explorers!

The $2 Poinsettia

Teaching kids about money is a challenge.  I am not very good at it, believe it or not, and I'm afraid that I'm not teaching my kids the right way to budget or the importance of saving early.  I am not a very disciplined person and I'm not the mom who gets the allowance out every Sunday (even though I mean to every single Sunday) and I don't do a good job of making them budget for the big things.  I mean to, but I never get around to it.

My frustration with my own shortcoming was unfortunately taken out on my son last night and he fired back with a lesson that hit me square in the heart.

Justin and Annalise both participated in a military kid study several months ago and they each got $15 for it in the mail yesterday.  I gave them their cash and told them they could do what they wanted with it.  I was certainly not a deprived child and I never went without anything I wanted, so I'm not sure how I wound up this way, but I am a neurotic saver.  I hate spending money and I feel so much better when I make a deposit into the savings account than when I buy that gorgeous pair of shoes.  When I handed their cash to them, I assumed that they would proudly deposit the money in their piggy banks and leave it there to count later as I would have done as a child. 

I am not my child and my child is not me.  Repeat.

We went to buy a Christmas Tree last night and Justin had his $15 in his pocket.  I was wandering through the pine tree aisles when he came over to me, wearing a proud smile on his face, and handed me a little poinsettia plant with a gold wrapper. The words flew out before I even thought through them and I said something along the lines of, "Seriously?  What did you spend your money on now?" 

Mouth in gear, brain in neutral. That never ends well.

The smile flickers for a moment and he says, "I bought it for you, Mom.  It was only two bucks..."

Oh, it gets worse.

I groveled all night and tried to save myself by justifying my response to him.  I was a hopeless mess babbling mindless stories about why it's important to save and how we will buy him the things he needs.  He listened politely and didn't say much so I filled the silence with more mindless babble about things he really didn't care about.  I ended by reminding him that the greatest gifts I ever get are things he makes me.  I asked him to make me a card for the flowers. "To Mom, From Justin" or something like that.

When we got home, he asked me for a notecard and pen so that he could write a label for my flowers. He disappeared for much longer than usual so I thought that maybe he was drawing me a battle scene or something like that.  Nope.  Way wrong.  This is what I got:

Trust me, I know that there are many battles and life lessons to come.  I know I have lots to improve on when it comes to being a good Mom.  I know, I know...don't waste time patting myself on the back.  I know all of that, but right now, I know I have done something RIGHT.