It amazes me sometimes that my dreams have any room to breathe through the reality of my life right now. With four kids ages 9 and under. In this crazy world.
Most the time I don't really dwell on the number of children I have. It's just my normal and I'm used to it. (Yes, I'm even used to dealing with things like the fact that the baby is currently sitting on my lap playing with dental floss and trying to click on the mouse... and the fact that I don't even really care how he got his hands on dental floss.)
But every now and then I have a day or two that reminds me not to get my hopes too high on the dream front. Reality comes crashing down like a saber tooth tiger. Who is angry.
It all started Wednesday with a trip to the dentist for Ms. Els. She has a tooth up front that is... well... snaggly. I call it The Snaggler. She hates me calling it that. He he he.
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| Best shot of The Snaggler I have. This was taken in December. It's worse now! |
Anyhow, then I noticed that she has two teeth coming in under her tongue. Again. That's right, folks, this is a repeat performance from her teeth.
I decided a pediatric dentist who also specializes in orthodontics may be my only hope for Shark Girl and her toothy layers. After a nice cleaning, x-rays were taken. And then the dentist arrived on scene.
I think he wanted to laugh with giddy delight at the $$$$ flashing before his eyes. But, he refrained. I'll probably love him forever for not laughing at poor Els. 'Cause I do. But that's not professional and definitely not what she needs.
Here is what they found: Eliana has somehow become the genetic dumping pot for all the idiosyncrasies that my family has as far as teeth go. The poor girl has all the missing permanent teeth and sharky layering going on that is possible. All said, she needs 5 teeth extracted.
Goodbye Hawaii. I would have loved you.
So, when I got back from dropping Els at school after convincing her that it "won't be a big deal" to have 5 teeth pulled, I found waiting in my mailbox a letter to "The Parents of C....". Odd.
I foolishly opened it.
Yep, our sweet Cadie Lu apparently failed her hearing screening at school last week. What the what? They suggested we contact an audiologist to delve deeper into the problem.
Friends, Family, Neighbors... I am here to tell you that there is not a thing wrong with that girl's hearing. The only thing wrong with that girl is that she forgot to pay attention during the screening and was probably painting rainbows in the sky while they pushed their little "beepers". She didn't respond because she didn't remember where she was or what she was about.
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| "Ha ha ha ha... Unicorns are so pretty. And sparkly. And they tell the best jokes!" |
My sis-in-law, upon HEARING about Cadie's failure, suggested that next time we send her in with a note informing the test administrator that they will need to reengage her attention before pushing any buttons and just have her tell them if she heard anything or not.
Remember the movie UP? And the dog who always suddenly loses focus and yells "Squirrel!". Meet Cadence.
I threw the letter out. I already knew she was "deaf". No news there.
As if that weren't enough, this morning my lovely father-in-law called to invite the kids and I out to dinner. Hubs is out of town with work and I jumped at the chance to not have to cook or clean up. Sweet.
I made the mistake of telling the kids.
You'd think that they'd be excited and do everything they could to make it possible to enjoy a dinner out with Grampy and Grammy. But, instead, the little sneaksters revolted.
J Baby was quick to develop a nice, goopy, red and swollen, oozing, pink eye. Then J Bear decided pink eye was the rage and jumped aboard. Not too much later I got a call from my mom at the school telling me Ms. Els had a fever and was feeling lethargic and chilled. She was crying in my mom's classroom.
Cadie Lu - MY ANGEL - is the last kid standing.
Goodbye chick flick and hot bath. I'll miss you.
Next I received an email from my dad letting me know that even with him doing the work, the cost of parts alone to fix Hub's car (AC went out) will be around $400. And that's if we get used parts. I thought about making Hubs "sweat it out", but in the end I told my Dad to go ahead with the repairs. After all, I gotta keep my Sugar Daddy Hubs happy, driving to work and bringing home the....
But, still, goodbye overnight getaway with Hubs. Who wants to bond with their spouse anyway? Clearly anyone foolish enough to have four children has willingly said farewell to couples time!
Occasionally I get a wild hair and think I'll get back to work on that novel, or I'll exercise. But then reality creeps in - in the form of sticky fingers, runny noses and little voices - pushing up against those dreams, scaring them a little. So I tuck them back in to the safe place inside me where I do my best to keep them alive.
I've heard tales of women, super mom's, who can do it all. I just can't.
But what I can do is get a warm wash cloth to de-goop the boys' eyes, a cool wash cloth to put on Eliana's forehead, and figure out what I'm cooking for dinner.
'Cause, right now, I'm busy being a Mom.
Which was all I ever really wanted to be anyway.
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