The Unmatched Beauty of the Childs Mind

Today was a good day in my household, after my children being gone for 2 days (with their grandmother so i could go on a cleaning spree). I was filled with joy and excitement to get them back in time for our family Christmas with my father, sister, brother, his wife, and their wonderful son. Upon picking them up I found them excitedly captivated by a Maltese puppy that my mother-in-law had. Whilst commenting on the bonds they formed with the puppy all the way from my eldest to my young 7 month old daughter I realized I would love nothing more then to bring this animal into our chaotic life. That is when my MIL responded with take him, please, take him now! I was all to happy to want to oblige but animals coming into our household is an absolute must discussion with my husband. So when my son's looked at me with pleading eyes i told them they had to talk to daddy. So we loaded up in the car and off we went. As we were going down the road I spotted a 27 inch TV set out for garbage pick up... now seeing this triggers many memories of my mother dumpster diving for tables, rugs, TVs, blinds, really anything you could name... So my knee-jerk reaction was to speed up, but i surprisingly found myself more willing to slow down, inspect the item, and then proceed to load it into the car with the thought... "maybe it works."
When we made it home, kids in tow with a 27inch TV and dreams of a puppy dancing in our heads, we were greeted by my father and sister bearing gifts a plenty and a very tasty lunch. When my brother arrived with his wonderful family we sat down to eat with a good movie in the background and warm conversations to pass the time. Although the whole time we were eating my oldest kept asking, "can we open presents now!" It kept us entertained in a slightly annoying way, but it was a situation you could not help but to make the best of. But when the time came to open presents he was so excited he handed out all the presents while opening his own. The thoroughly enjoyed unwrapping all the gifts with pure looks of interest and curiosity as they were anxiously tearing through the paper to see what goodies lie beneath. Once all the mysterious presents were revealed there was a awesome count of toys from remote control cars to a baby gym, from that to a Nerf gun (BTW OUCH DAD), and then on to gifts for us adults which included a wonderful screen print from my extraordinarily talented brother to very comedic and brightly colored t-shirts from my dad.
Once our family Christmas was over, my son asked for the puppy, and although my husband immediately said no, I later talked him into curiosity and interest over the animal and instead of the stone cold no, i got the answer we'll see, which in my hubby's speak means yes but on a trial basis... i can swing that ;)
SWEETEST MOMENT OF THE DAY: That evening as the kids and I were baking cookies for Christmas, my youngest son was helping me cut out ginger bread men and as he gazed at them he had a light bulb moment and proceeded to point and say, "this ones mommy, this ones daddy, and this ones me dilly" Nothing can warm a heart quicker then that ;)

My happy family...

Today, I got my tooth pulled... today i was filled with pain and sat dwelling in misery. Today my family took care of me... i know we are a happy family. I love my family.

I hate love my teeth....

Growing up, I will have to admit I was never great at remembering to brush every single night. In fact I hated the very idea of what I had to go through with teeth. Its not fun being a kid having your teeth fall out, be pulled out, or in some cases slammed out with the shutting of a door. But alas, as a kid I had great dental hygiene naturally. After all my adult teeth came in I only remember getting 1 to 2 cavities till I turned 16. To revisit my remembering to brush every night comment, once my adult teeth came in I was much better at that.
Dental visits were much dreaded for me after one particular visit when I was a young child. And this is how it went...To my excitement my mother brought me to the dentist, and when we left I had medal bars guarding the roof of my mouth to keep me from sucking my fingers. It was an extremely unpleasant feeling, especially when it came to talking and eating. Well not even a week after this guard was put in place a friend on the school bus one morning gave me my favorite piece of candy, a now and later. I proceeded to chew the candy with much delight until it dislodged the bars and caused a massive tear in my mouth which poured out blood. When my teacher saw me she just about shrieked in terror. She must have thought i was throwing the blood up. At any rate this resulted in another painful trip to the dentist to where the bars were removed.
That particular memory is my driving force in wanting to help my kids maintain healthy teeth and habits. So far, so good in their cases. But now here I am, 22 and miserable at the idea of having to go to the dentist November 2ND to get my first ever tooth surgically removed. This particular tooth is a constant pain to me. It was awesome till a filling I had in it popped out leaving the nerve exposed for a cavity to form in it. So now the tooth is beyond saving and in my opinion its removal is worse as a sign of aging then getting grey hairs. It is giving me nightmares of having false teeth that pop out when I try to smile at my children.
Luckily I finally found a good dentist. She is very sweet and understanding, she really is very supportive of getting the job done so that I can eat pain free. The fact that I like her so much is great because my history with my past dentists have always been uncomfortable. For instance my first dentist was also my preacher at the church we attended. So whenever I had to get a filling I felt like I was committing a sin. My next dentist was a old jerk, and when I was getting a filling from him he didn't wait for the numbing to be complete before he started. So when I jerked in pain he told me to shut up and suck it up. By the time I chose to go to the dentist again, it was about this tooth before the cavity had infected the nerve. He treated me as if I was a lowly peasant and he a mighty King. So I have to say having a nice inviting dentist is a WONDERFUL change. And even though I dread the idea of being toothless I am looking forward to her getting the job done.
My recent visit there was so very pleasant that I chose this clinic as our dental destination and I made my first appointment for my 4 year old there. I hope that this Dentist will make him feel as comfortable as she did me. Because I truly hope he learns to enjoy trips to the dentist, it will make it easier on all of us.