Pee-Pee Dance

Every so often I look at one of my kids and wonder where the hell I went wrong. I have given them all a roof over their heads, nutritious food, clothes that won't get them ostracized by their peers, educational toys and books, tickets to cultural events, and the best preschool education a home equity credit line can buy. I've given them a bilingual education, lessons in gymnastics & swimming & tai quan do, and involved them in team sports so they'd be well-rounded. I read to them, I cook with them, and I play their music in the car. But some days I feel a little bit like Jeffrey Dahmer's mother when one of them does something I just can't fathom. Today was one of those days.

Adlani LOVES to watch TV. He would watch TV all day every day if I'd allow it. He sneaks the TV on when I'm not looking, and he is constantly asking me if we can buy the Nu-Wave Oven or the Buxton Organizer. Today he asked if we could buy Magic Hangers and went on to describe all of the features and benefits of the product. I have forbidden TV, locked the living room, and even locked the TV cabinets with cable locks through the door pulls. Once he opened the cabinet doors as much as the cable locks would allow, squeezed up behind the doors, and stood there between the TV and the cabinet doors watching Sponge Bob.

Well, apparently Adlani was watching TV in the master bedroom and it was a REALLY good show. So good that he didn't want to miss anything by running to the bathroom (we DO have the ability to pause the TV but for some reason that didn't come to mind as an option). So...he peed under my desk. WTF?!?! And sadly, it wasn't the first time.

So tonight I was telling my friend about the incident. I was seriously horrified by it. She cracked up and went on to tell me that her son (the same age) peed in the playroom because he didn't want to stop playing! Well, I guess if both of them did it, it must fall into the "normal" range of behavior. It's still gross.
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How Swine Flu is Transmitted

This makes me gag but it's kinda funny.


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The Father of One of My Kids

The sound isn't great on this video so listen closely. If I find a better copy I'll switch it, but this commercial cracks me up.


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I Didn't Die

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I have always wanted to be a better swimmer. My mother (yes, this is all her fault) was on the synchronized swimming team in high school and she wore noseplugs whenever she swam. As a kid, I never learned how to put my face in the water without a mask or noseplugs, so as a 41-year-old lady I decided the time had come. I would finally solve the mystery of what goes on under water. Was everyone holding their breath or blowing out constantly? Were they blowing out through their nose, mouth, or a carefully coordinated combination of the two? Was it a gentle, constant flow of air, or was it more like clearing the impacted snot out of my head? And what if the impacted snot flew out into the pool and started floating around?
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On a whim I decided to sign up for adult swim lessons at the Y as part of my current self-improvement kick. That was 48 hours ago and I've been worrying about it ever since. I actually took my anxiety medicine (now for public speaking, flying, the dentist, AND swimming lessons) but I was still shaking while I waited for class to start. I saw Jana on the way to the locker room and told her that I was headed for the Adult Beginner A class. She said, "It's hard to believe there's something you're not good at." There are actually lots of things I'm not good at but that's another post. I gave Jana some messages to pass on if I died, and told her to make sure someone got the rum cake recipe from Ben so I could live on.
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As I sat shivering beside the pool making small talk with the other sinkers I tried to figure out who our instructor would be, hoping for someone who would slowly and gently help me ease my face into the water. The only instructor in the pool was the coach of the YMCA swim team, Lavinia. I'm pretty sure Lavinia is Russian, and every time I have seen her she is barking orders. I had never seen her smile. I was a little relieved when swim team practice ended and she went to the locker room.
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She came back. She ordered us into the frigid water and told us to go under water 5 times. Yeah, ok. I could have stayed home and done this in the nice warm tub. The sad thing was that every one of my sinker friends had no problem putting their face in the water. When Lavinia came to me I said, "That's my problem - I can't put my face in the water." She said, "Just do it...I need to see your problem from under the water." Every time I stuck half a nostril under the water she said, "I couldn't see anything." I finally got pissed and made a half-hearted but double-nostril dunk and she moved on to her next victim. I cried a little.
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There were about 20 people in the class, and some of them couldn't swim AT ALL. One woman said it was the first time she had ever been in a pool. I can swim. Give me a set of noseplugs or a mask and snorkel and I can swim like Michael Phelps' great-aunt Tilly. I've just got to get past the face-in-the-water thing. Surprisingly, by the end of the first class, everyone could swim and I could put my face in the water. I need a lot of practice, but I guess most of all I just needed Lavinia to give the order. She even smiled.
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The I.R.S.

I haven't talked much about this on the blog because it just sucks so much, but some of you have heard my sad story about trying to clean up the mess created by someone (who will remain nameless) who used my social security number to collect rental income in my name to avoid a tax levy. I was extremely hurt by this abuse of my trust, and it was SO FRUSTRATING to try to work through the situation with the IRS. Every time I'd fill out their form saying that it was not my income, they'd send me another one back saying, "OK...so you agree with adding this under-reported income to your gross income." It was obvious that nobody read what I wrote, even though I made numerous calls and followed their instructions to the T.

Well, my patience paid off. Today I received a "Closing Notice" from the IRS. It says that I'm all set - it's over - I'm done. I actually called the IRS when I received the letter because I wanted to make sure that I was all set for BOTH tax years that this fraud was committed. The representative told me that yes, I really was all set, and for both years. Yay.

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WE ARE THE BIGGEST LOSERS!!!

We had the wrap-up meeting for the fitness challenge at the Y tonight and our team won! Between the 5 team members we lost 47 pounds. I haven't been able to work out much in the last 2 weeks because either my ankle, knee, or back has been killing me and Dr. Bob keeps telling me to take it easy, so my expectations weren't very high. I got on the scale tonight and flicked the little thingie to the right. The scale stayed firmly in the down position. I started moving it to the left pound by pound and the scale didn't move until I got down to the next set of numbers. Even with the minor setback of the last 2 weeks and the fact that I had to weigh in at night, I've lost 10 pounds! Since last year at this time I've lost about 20 pounds, but I've only been serious about trying to lose weight for 2 periods of about 2 months each. I'm hoping that my new habits will stick this time and that my injuries will heal so I can actually get some good workouts in! I'm nowhere near where I want to be but at least I'm headed in the right direction. I'll try to find some photos to post shortly.
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Sign of the Times

Yesterday I stopped at the Bank of America on Needham Street in Newton - not exactly a high-crime district. I was really surprised to see an ARMED GUARD standing out in front eating a banana. There have been more bank robberies lately so I guess it's becoming a necessity, but it was still surprising. Armed guards are much more common in other countries - we saw them everywhere when we were in Africa. Sometimes they have machine guns. Scary.

Speaking of the bank, the new ATM machines are so cool! You don't need an envelope to make a deposit, and when you feed your checks into the slot, it scans them and figures out the amount of the checks. Be careful because the amount was incorrect on one of mine, but it's still pretty amazing. I always get the receipt with the checks printed right on it, just in case.

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Day 4 - Daddy's Turn

I took the day off from school vacation today and Ben stayed home with the kids. I went to work and got a lot done. I came home to a broken window but that's a small price to pay.

Up next, a trip to the zoo with Aliya and Adlani. It should be fun if I can keep Adlani out of the animal pens.
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Day 3 - Almost Enjoyable

We started Day #3 with an appointment with Dr. Bob (chiropractor). I had serious lumbar issues but he fixed me all up (until the next time). Aliya read to Adlani during my adjustment and Dr. Bob commented that they were VERY well behaved.

We stopped at my office and the kids got another "atta-boy" from one of my coworkers, who also said they were being very good. The incentive for their good behavior was the chance to choose a snack from the snack-shelves at my office, but hey - whatever works.

After that we went to Drumlin Farms where we renewed our annual membership for $29...what a bargain! The weather was gorgeous at that point - sunny and about 60 degrees, so we went on a 1/2 mile walk on one of the trails. Aliya is really afraid of the woods - too much exposure to Ben's Crime-TV I think. We visited the rescued crow, hawks, turkey vulture, quail, and owls, and we arrived at feeding time so not only did we get to see them eating their yummy rats and mice, we got to chat with the caretakers. I didn't realize birds live so long! The turkey vulture was found as an injured adult in 1977!

Adlani was obsessed with going on the tractor ride so we went straight to the tractor stop but it was the tractor man's lunch hour, so we sat and had a snack. At some point I realized that I was staring at one of the other moms because I knew her somehow. It turned out that she was the midwife who "helped Norah come out". It was really great to see her except that 1) she was a witness to the IUD incident (see the post below), and 2) I had to confess that I took Norah to day care today because I was too lazy to chase her around and fight with her.

While waiting for the tractor ride we visited the tack shop, the cows, horse, pigs, chickens, goats & sheep including lots of babies, mice, and skunk. They also had some really cool solar sculptures and we saw 2 deer in the deer pen and heard some wild turkeys. We finally got on the first ride after lunch and the first raindrop fell as we got off the tractor. We stopped at Dairy Joy for lunch and the first soft-serve of the season, and headed home.







































I'm so glad I finally broke down and ordered a new point-and-shoot camera last night. Something has been wrong with mine for a long time and you can clearly see the problem in the photo below. The left side of the image is always fuzzy. Annoying!


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I.U.D.

When I wrote the post about seeing my midwife at Drumlin Farm, I looked for a post that talked about my I.U.D. experience so I could link to the story rather than embarrassing myself all over again. To my shock and amazement, I never wrote about it on the blog! I know it happened before I started the blog, but I was sure I had relived it at least once. To get the full effect, I went back to my email from November of 2006, when I described my experience to Karen:

"You won't BELIEVE what happened. I had an appointment with the midwife at 2 to have my IUD put in. I think I told you, I got her to write me a prescription so I could buy the IUD from a Canadian pharmacy for less than half price. That turned out to be a big controversy with their billing departmant, and the midwife got in a little trouble for writing me the prescription.

At 12:30 I laid down to feed Norah and I fell asleep. I woke up at 1:15 and panicked a little because I had to leave in 15 minutes. I changed, put everything I needed for the midwife and my office in a bag, and ran out the door thinking about how starving I was and what I was going to eat. I got to the midwife's and realized that I forgot the bag. I was sooooo upset.

When the receptionist told me she'd have to reschedule for 11/28, I started crying. She told me she'd go check with the midwife and the midwife said that her 3 o'clock appt. had come at 2, so I could go home, get the IUD and be back by 3. I cried halfway home because I was so mad that I had wasted the hour to drive there and back. I feel like every minute of my time is double-booked and it just really upset me.

So I went back to the midwife's and when she came in to see me I apologized and said, "I hope you don't think I'm a sexaholic and can't wait 2 more weeks to have the IUD put in." She said the thought never crossed her mind and when the receptionist told her I was crying she knew it was because I'm really busy and was upset that I drove all the way there without it.

Anyway, I can finally cross 'Get IUD' off my to-do list. It has been on the list for 2 years. It wasn't bad at all.

- Lori "

For the record, ordering the IUD from Canada cost me $264 and my midwife's office charged $585 for the exact same one. I went even farther back in my email to find a poem that I sent to Karen when I got the surprise of my life and found out that I was pregnant with Norah. Karen had recently tripped over some of the kids' crap and broken her ankle, so with the subject, "A little poem to cheer you up..." I sent the following original poem:

"When I heard you'd hurt your foot, I felt so sad for you,
Hobbling on just one leg, it's hard enough with two.
So much to do, it all piles up, the work is never done,
When you've finished your to-do list, there's no time left for fun.
At least you didn't procrastinate, you got your IUD,
If you hadn't done that, you might be pregnant...like me.

Now, doesn't that make you feel better?

- Lori"
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Sheep Art

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Moroccan Specimen

Last Friday morning, Aliya, Ben, and I donned our Morocco-wear and did 3 presentations on Morocco for the first grade classes. We brought a bunch of our Moroccan paraphernalia, a Powerpoint presentation, and a Moroccan snack (orange salad), and the kids really seemed to like it.

Aliya is going to do a simplified version (in Spanish) for Adlani's class after vacation.
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Equal Time

I have to give this kid equal time along with Susan Boyle. He's great!


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It Must Be Spring

Even though it was 39 degrees and miserable for their first games, I'm assuming that it's spring because the Absolutes and the Red Dragons are back in action. Aliya did REALLY well in her first game of the season and scored 4 goals. Adlani was recruited by the team of his Blocks classmate, Colin - the Red Dragons. We miss the Fireballs, but Adlani is starting to catch on and actually kicks the ball occasionally. He scored a goal in his first game, in the correct net!

Here is the aftermath of the first Absolutes practice with Adlani and Norah entertaining themselves in the dust pile:



Here are a few photos from Game(s) 1, when we froze our butts off until I took the girls to the car to thaw:

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Day 2 - Slightly Less Unbearable

Since I always try to learn from my mistakes, today I: 1) didn't give the kids a choice about where we were going, 2) left immediately after breakfast to minimize the risk that they would lose the privelege before we could get out the door, and 3) took Norah to day care.

We got to the aquarium about a half-hour before the Imax movie started, and breezed right up to the member services desk past about 200 people waiting in line for tickets. Then we headed directly to the area where they let the bravest of the kids touch sea creatures because that area is always insane. We beat the rush and the kids had plenty of opportunities to traumatize the starfish and hermit crabs.

There was hardly anyone in the movie theater and I humored the kids by sitting in the very top row. I haven't been to an Imax movie in YEARS. The movie was Under the Sea, and it was awesome! It was in 3D, and it was realistic enough that Aliya reached out at least 20 times as if she could touch something in front of her and Adlani almost peed his pants every time a cuttlefish ate a poor unsuspecting minnow. It was a pretty benign movie...the shark didn't devour anybody and the most traumatic part was when the turtle ate the jellyfish (Aliya whispered, "Doesn't that hurt the jellyfish?").

After the movie we went back into the aquarium so the kids could collect all 6 turtle stamps in their passports...I swear they didn't look at anything except the stamping stations. It was SO FRIGGIN CROWDED - I've never seen it that bad. When we left, the line was zig-zagged back and forth inside the tent in front of the ticket area, all the way down to the street, and then turned 90 degrees and extended another 200 people toward Rowe's Wharf. It was unbelievable!

We had lunch at Legal's and they sat us right next to the fish tank. We bought a few books at the aquarium (including "Los Pinguinos" for Aliya's classroom), so the kids had plenty to entertain them. They were very well-behaved and we actually enjoyed lunch. I even got to make some calls on the way home because they were both passed out.

Now if only the little monster would begin her transformation into a human being, maybe I wouldn't need to be medicated for family outings. A mom can dream, right?




A giant tanker in the mist and the loooooong line for tickets. I would pay the $100 for membership just to move to the front of this line!



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DON'T MAKE ME STOP THIS CAR!

Given my current frame of mind, this article caught my eye. I'm not saying that I condone what she did or that I would have driven away, but I can definitely understand how a parent could be pushed far enough that they leave their kids on the side of the road. At least she probably knows a good attorney. I wonder if they could arrest me for leaving the car AND the kids on the side of the road and walking home myself.

Police Say Mom Ordered Daughters Out, Drove Off

Usually, it's an empty threat: "If you kids don't stop fighting, I'm going to stop this car right now and leave you here!" But a mother from an upper-crust New York suburb went through with it, ordering her battling 10- and 12-year-old daughters out of her car in White Plains' business district and driving off, police said Tuesday.

Madlyn Primoff, 45, a partner in a Manhattan law firm, pleaded not guilty Monday to a charge of endangering a child. A temporary order of protection was issued, barring her from contact with the children, who were physically unharmed.

Primoff's lawyer, Vincent Briccetti, would not comment Tuesday on details of the case. But he said, "Madlyn is a great mother connected with a great family, and she is grateful for the outpouring of support from friends and family."

There wasn't much support from strangers, however. Mothers interviewed near the scene said they couldn't imagine doing what Primoff did, though some understood the urge.

Iris Gorodess, 49, of Mahopac, who has four children ranging from 10 to 19 years old, said she sympathized with Primoff's actions, right up to the point where she pulled away.

"I used to pull over and make the kids change seats. Also, I make sure the kids have their iPods and their games. And I have a minivan, so they're not up my neck all the time.

"But I can't see pulling away. That has to be too scary for the children."

White Plains police said Primoff ordered the arguing girls out of the car Sunday evening as they were driving home. She left them at Post Road and South Broadway, an area of shops and offices 3 miles from their home, then drove off, the police report said.

The report does not say whether the girls had cell phones.

Police would not say if Primoff ever returned to look for the girls, but they said, without explaining how, that the 12-year-old eventually caught up with the mother. The 10-year-old was found by a "Good Samaritan" on the street, upset and emotional about losing her mother, police said.

The girl gave police her mother's name and their address in well-to-do Scarsdale, and they asked Scarsdale police to check Primoff's $2 million house. Shortly afterward, Primoff called Scarsdale police from home to say the 10-year-old was missing, said Scarsdale Detective Lt. Bryant Clark.

He directed her to White Plains police headquarters, where she was arrested.

Dr. Richard Gersh, director of psychiatric services at the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services in Manhattan, said Primoff's behavior was not appropriate.

"It is a traumatic situation for a child to be abandoned by a parent like that. You can imagine what emotional issues might arise," he said.
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Staycation, All I Ever Wanted? - Day 1

So far, not good. I decided to take some vacation time this week so that we'd all enjoy spring break more than winter break, when I spent all day every day trying to work around the monsters. I planned a fun local activity for each day this week, with the idea that after a fun (and tiring) day, I would have the late afternoon and evening to keep up on email and phone calls.

I made my first mistakes very early on in the day...1) I allowed them to have a vote on the planned activity, and 2) I had a couple of chores on the agenda before the planned activity, with expectations that when we completed the chores, we'd have our activity as a reward. I guess there was also a mistake #3...I expected this to work with Norah home from day care. She is in a pretty bad phase right now - extremely adorable and extremely naughty - a bad combo.

So the plan for today was that we'd pack a picnic and go watch the marathon for a while. My trainer from the Y was pushing a guy in a wheelchair for 10 miles and I wanted to support her, plus it's fun to watch the runners...well, for me anyway. The pre-fun task was to fill a box of crap from the playroom that could go to the school yard sale. The playroom is not currently passable. It is SO FULL OF JUNK.

Well, nobody wanted to go to the marathon, so I came up with the backup plan of a picnic at the playground followed by free swim at the Y later in the afternoon. With all of the screaming, fighting, and general disobedience that went on all day, everyone spent time in time-out (at least 10 times for Norah) and we did nothing fun. The highlight of my day was to clean the shower grout so I could hide in the shower and the screaming would be slightly muted.

Oh well, tomorrow's a new day. Norah will be back at day care and I'm going to take the other two to the early show at the Imax at the aquarium. It will be crazy with all the tourists, but we are members so hopefully we can get in and out before the throng arrives.
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Firefly Lane

I finished this book today and I can't remember the last time I was so emotionally affected by a book. For most of the book it was just an entertaining read with lots of 70's and 80's references, but I cried through the last 20 minutes. I had to hide from Ben and the kids so they wouldn't think I was losing it.

From the New York Times bestselling author of On Mystic Lake comes a powerful novel of love, loss, and the magic of friendship. . . .

In the turbulent summer of 1974, Kate Mularkey has accepted her place at the bottom of the eighth-grade social food chain. Then, to her amazement, the “coolest girl in the world” moves in across the street and wants to be her friend. Tully Hart seems to have it all---beauty, brains, ambition. On the surface they are as opposite as two people can be: Kate, doomed to be forever uncool, with a loving family who mortifies her at every turn. Tully, steeped in glamour and mystery, but with a secret that is destroying her. They make a pact to be best friends forever; by summer’s end they’ve become TullyandKate. Inseparable.

So begins Kristin Hannah’s magnificent new novel. Spanning more than three decades and playing out across the ever-changing face of the Pacific Northwest, Firefly Lane is the poignant, powerful story of two women and the friendship that becomes the bulkhead of their lives.

From the beginning, Tully is desperate to prove her worth to the world. Abandoned by her mother at an early age, she longs to be loved unconditionally. In the glittering, big-hair era of the eighties, she looks to men to fill the void in her soul. But in the buttoned-down nineties, it is television news that captivates her. She will follow her own blind ambition to New York and around the globe, finding fame and success . . . and loneliness.

Kate knows early on that her life will be nothing special. Throughout college, she pretends to be driven by a need for success, but all she really wants is to fall in love and have children and live an ordinary life. In her own quiet way, Kate is as driven as Tully. What she doesn’t know is how being a wife and mother will change her . . . how she’ll lose sight of who she once was, and what she once wanted. And how much she’ll envy her famous best friend. . . .

For thirty years, Tully and Kate buoy each other through life, weathering the storms of friendship---jealousy, anger, hurt, resentment. They think they’ve survived it all until a single act of betrayal tears them apart . . . and puts their courage and friendship to the ultimate test.

Firefly Lane is for anyone who ever drank Boone’s Farm apple wine while listening to Abba or Fleetwood Mac. More than a coming-of-age novel, it’s the story of a generation of women who were both blessed and cursed by choices. It’s about promises and secrets and betrayals. And ultimately, about the one person who really, truly knows you---and knows what has the power to hurt you . . . and heal you. Firefly Lane is a story you’ll never forget . . . one you’ll want to pass on to your best friend.
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Don't Judge a Book by it's Cover

In case you've been under a rock and haven't seen this video, check it out.

Susan Boyle on Britains Got Talent

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Bribery Makes The World Go Around

I'm not afraid to admit it. I use bribery as one of my core parenting techniques. Don't get me wrong...there are things that they are responsible for, and there's no cash payout for doing them. I don't bribe them to brush their teeth or go to bed. BUT...there are times when a buck can really ease the pain.

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The problem now is...they're getting a little greedy. Last week we were getting ready to head out in the morning and I announced, "Whoever finds my bra gets a quarter!" Woohoo! 25 whole cents! Aliya gave me "the look" and said, "I'm NOT finding your bra for a quarter." Me: "How much?" Aliya: "A dollar." Me: "Not likely. Adlani - do you want a quarter?" And off he ran. 25 cents is a small price to pay to protect the other parents and teachers in the drop off line from seeing me braless.

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My bribery technique has backfired a few times though. One day I had all 3 kids in my office...I have no idea why since not only did I get no work done, everyone else got no work done. It's hard to walk an architect through the components and operation of a delayed egress system when the child in the desk chair is vomiting as he is spun at warp speed by the other 2. Anyway, as we prepared to leave my coworkers in peace, I said, "Let's see who can find my keys." Adlani said, "What do we get?" in hopes that the reward would be one of the yummy snacks we have stocked in the office kitchen. I said, "You don't have to have your daily beating today." And off they ran. Thirty seconds later they were on their way back, with Adlani leading the pack holding the keys aloft and screaming, "YAY!!! WE DON'T HAVE TO GET OUR BEATING TODAY!!!"

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Oh well...I guess it's probably good for my coworkers to think I'm on the edge of losing it too.

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Just A Little Crazy

There were a bunch of mothers on Oprah a couple of weeks ago talking about how they cope with the challenges of motherhood. One woman's suggestion was eye-opening. She talked about how she makes her kids think that she's just a little crazy...that she's on the edge and this just might be the incident that pushes her over.

I'm pretty sure my mother knew about this little trick because we lived in fear of her head exploding off of her body and through the roof for most of the 70's and into the 80's. But here's why the advice was so eye-opening. For the last 7 years, I've been pretty sure that I was headed for a mental breakdown. I've talked to my friend Kelli on several occasions about the chances that I could go into a fugue state and just wander off. I was hoping that with her nursing background she'd reassure me that people only do that in movies (she didn't).

The thing that makes me absolutely crazy is WHEN I HAVE TO SAY THE SAME THING 50 TIMES! I mean, WHY did I have to tell them to sit down for breakfast 10 times this morning? Really! We do it every morning, they shouldn't really need instructions at this point. By the 10th time, my eyes were bulging out of my head, saliva was flying from my lips, and glass was shattering all over the kitchen.

But maybe I'm not actually losing it. Maybe I'm just *pretending* to be crazy to scare them. Yes, that's it! What a comforting thought.
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Almost Dead

Adlani: "What's that?"
Me: "A mole."
Adlani: "How do you get one?"
Me: "They just grow sometimes."
Adlani: "Will I get one when I'm older?"
Me: "Probably."
Adlani: "But I don't want to die!"
Me: "You're not going to die just because you have a mole."
Adlani: "How old are you anyway?"
Me: "41."
Adlani: "41 is almost dead."
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It's That Time Again...

Just when I'm getting back on track with a sensible diet, another holiday arrives to push me off the path. Why do all holidays involve food that adds inches to your hips, rots your teeth, and calls your name from 3 rooms away? "Lori...I'm on top of the refrigerator in Adlani's Easter basket...one little bite can't possibly hurt you and I won't tell Maura that you didn't write it down in your food journal."
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I'm hoping the Easter Bunny brings only Peeps this year, because if I use all of my Supermommy powers I can resist them. Those marshmallow eggs too. But definitely not the chocolate-covered peanut butter ones.

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Good luck to everyone who is trying not to eat Easter candy!

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Triple Crown

Today I had a dentist appointment. It was only for a cleaning, so I didn't feel any particular anxiety about going. The realization that Motrin/Tylenol would dull the sensitivity in my teeth has changed my life, at least when it comes to dental visits. Why do they have to use such cold water??

The anxiety should have kicked in when the hygienist mentioned that part of a filling was gone. Or when she said that she thought I had a cavity and that one of my old white fillings probably needed to be replaced. But I was lulled into a false sense of security by the knowledge that the most painful thing I'd have to endure today was the sharp edge of the x-ray film.

After the cleaning, she stuck me in another room for a half hour which I really enjoyed because I got to read about 4 articles in the September issue of O magazine. Then Dr. Arora arrived (photo above - she's nicer than she looks in the photo). I love Dr. Arora and I drive all the way to Worcester to see her, since she moved from the Natick office of Gentle Dental to one closer to home when she had her twins. She has seen me through at least 6 fillings, 2 crowns, and 2 root canals, so I know she's a talented and compassionate dentist. I saw her at the mall once with her screaming toddler, so I know she's also a regular mom like me.

Dr. Arora took one look in my mouth and asked what I've been doing. Was I stressed? Was I grinding or clenching? Apparently in addition to the missing piece of filling, I also have another broken filling and a fractured tooth. Plus the cavity and the filling that needs to be replaced. And one tooth may need a root canal and another may need a "gum procedure" and I'm pretty sure she wasn't talking about Bubblicious. So I guess I'll be seeing a lot more of Dr. Arora. Thank God we have double dental insurance - through my work and Ben's.

Oh well, I can't get a cavity in a crown so this puts me closer to my goal of replacing every tooth with a crown. I already have 4 and will have 3 more by the end of the year. I can't prove it but I REALLY think that the problems with my teeth stem from my bad habit of chewing pens and pencils from childhood until I was about 25. I remember cracking the clear plastic Bic pens, and the taste of the metal ring that holds the eraser on a #2 pencil. Also the taste of earwax on an eraser - eeeeewwwww! Kids...don't make the mistakes I made. Go get some Bubblicious. Sugar-free of course.

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Weekend Update

It was actually a fairly quiet weekend around here, at least by Greenabderrazak standards. First and foremost, Adlani has recovered from Norah's attack on his eyeball and we now realize that we should have enjoyed the quiet time last weekend. He's definitely making up for lost time. He opened his eyes last Saturday night in time to see the Pussycat Dolls on the Kids Choice Awards, or maybe it was the presence of the Funsecas that motivated him. Either way, we were relieved that he stopped walking around with his eyes closed. He missed out on the gymnastics event for Blocks, but I took the girls and we won a free session. Grandma Ginny was here for the weekend so we dragged her around to all of the usual weekend events.

On Monday Ben took Adlani to Children's for a follow-up visit and I met them there. We saw the same resident, Dr. Chang, as well as an ophthalmologist. The exam was pure torture. Ben left halfway through to go meet Aliya's bus and it spiraled downhill from there. The doctor needed to look at Adlani's eye and he wouldn't cooperate so I finally had to put him into a Full Nelson and she flipped the chair back so I was flat on my back. Dr. Chang held Adlani's hands, I had my legs wrapped around his legs, my arms around his arms, and my hand on his head so he wouldn't head-butt me under the chin, and the doctor pried open his eye and looked at it. He is certainly strong-willed. He wouldn't cooperate during the vision test, so now we have to go back in 2 months because the doctor thinks one eye is weaker than the other and he may need a patch. Personally, I think it's just that he has a bad attitude and wouldn't identify the damn shapes. Anyway, I've got until the end of May to get him used to doing the vision test. Bribery will be involved.

The week flew by as they all do, and at midnight on Thursday night I realized that Friday night was pajama night at Blocks and I really needed to put up the new wish list board before then. I did that after school on Friday and I was SO RELIEVED to have it up. I won't have to do another one this year. Yay! Pajama night was fun, except when the performer pointed to Adlani and said, "Will the parent of this child please come up and get him?" Oy. He's really going through a bad phase right now - not listening, roughhousing...I guess it's all part of being a little boy but I'll be very happy if he ever comes out the other side of this phase.

Saturday morning was the usual...Zumba for me and indoor soccer/swimming for Ben and the kids. I had a wicked headache and spent a few hours on the couch. After I recovered I took Aliya to see Monsters vs. Aliens in 3D which was actually pretty good. Ben took the little monsters to visit his mom who just got back from Holland. This morning we finally replaced the bathroom window, and Aliya had a dance workshop this afternoon. Auntie Monica and Uncle Brady brought dinner and we had a nice visit with them. The kids were all a little crazy so Brady & Monica got their quarterly dose of birth control which I think is the main reason they came over.

Bedtime couldn't come soon enough!
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