Bad Mommy Confession #2,486

This could be a reeeeally long post with all the stuff I've done to mess up/drop the ball/inevitably send my kids to therapy, but today I'm focusing on just one of these "bad mommy moments."

Today, Andrew will have his first ever dental appointment. Yep.  First.ever.  How old is he?  Yeah, well he's FIVE years old.  I know!  Kids are "supposed" to go to the dentist after they get their first tooth.  Well, that happened when he was four months old, so...yep, pretty much exactly five years ago.  I have no excuse.  I have no idea why I have waited so long.  I guess we just stayed busy (ha!  doesn't everyone?) and it was one of those things that slipped through the cracks. 

You'd think that, given my personal dental history, I would know better.  I honestly believe I have a filling in every tooth that is able to be filled.  Cavities galore, people.  Part of its heredity, part of its laziness (and hatred of dental floss), but I really do want better for my kids...so WHY did I do this??

Funny thing is...The only reason he's going now (despite the hundreds of times when I've said to Chris, "man, we really need to get these kiddos to the dentist!") is that our state requires a dental exam for all kids who register for Kindergarten.  Since he's headed to school in August, guess where we are headed?  Yep.

What's gonna be so fun about this is that my boy is not fond of people messing with him in any way.  He cries all the way through hair cuts, nail trims (well, those are more like full-on wrestling matches), etc.  I can't imagine what its going to be like having a dentist look around in his mouth, trying to get x-rays and clean those little chiclet teeth.  I have advised the dentist that he might want to have some kid-friendly sedation on hand.

Oh, and I went ahead and made an appointment for Hannah.  She goes tomorrow.

Change of Plans!

I should know better by now.  I should *totally* know better than to make plans and assume things will happen as they were planned.  I'm a mom.  I'm a teacher (a special ed teacher, no less).  I should always be expecting the unexpected.

See, today the kids were supposed to go off to visit Mamaw & Papaw (Chris' mom and stepdad) in Alabama for a few days.  Chris and I were going to have FOUR completely kid-free days (four and a half if you count the half day spent driving to meet halfway to pick them up)!  We had plans to get the downstairs of our house all cleaned up and organized since there would be no distractions.  I was so excited and hopeful that maybe by the time they got home, the house would be ready for Chris & Hannah's joint b-day party a week from Saturday.

I should have known.

See, a couple of days ago, Mamaw broke her tooth.  The tooth had to be cut out and she is in a lot of pain.  They couldn't pick up the kids to take them back to Alabama. 

I have to admit...When I got this news, I fell apart.  Its ridiculous!  I mean, its not like she planned this or purposely hurt herself to avoid taking my kiddos for a few days, but the logical part of my brain was not in control when I heard this and pure disappointment took over.  I cried.  Sheesh. 

Turns out, we had a fantastic day despite the change in plans.  The kids were disappointed, of course, since they were so very excited to see Mamaw & Papaw, but they are resilient and go with the flow like a couple of champs.  We decided to go up to Stone Mountain and visit over lunch with Chris' best friend.  Afterwards, we went by some other friends' home where they gave us a new (to us) toddler bed for Hannah!  What a blessing.  Hannah had been spending more time trying to climb out and shake her crib apart than actually sleeping in it.

Yes, I know...she is almost three years old so OF COURSE she needs to be in a toddler bed.  Hey, what can I say?  I like having her "contained" and safe.  It was working, so I didn't want to mess with it.  Until it stopped working.  Now, she has this adorable dollhouse toddler bed and she loves it.  I'm not sure if she will actually sleep in it tonight, but we will sure hope and pray that she does!

All in all, today was pretty darn fabulous.  And the best news?  Mamaw called and she's feeling better!  Looks like we *might* be in for a few days of alone time after all!  If so, that's great.  If not...hey, whatever! I have learned my lesson.