I broke my own cardinal rule and ran out on to the field when my son was injured.
My 13 yr old son plays on a 7-7 football team, which, for the uninitiated, is pretty much like playing tag. Tag with aggressive, fast, competitive kids. My son and one of his team mates violently collided head-to-head, or more accurately teeth to head. They slammed into each other and both immediately fell in opposite directions onto the ground holding their heads in their hands.* They laid there like that for what seemed an eternity, but in reality was probably less than 5 seconds. Through the sea of legs that surrounded them, I heard my son cry out in pain. If you knew this child, you would know that he is not one to complain about physical injuries. He has broken his finger, taped it up himself on the sideline and continued on. He dislocated his shoulder, popped it back in himself and continued on. So this was unusual.
And so I ran across the field to where he was on the ground. I pried his hands away and looked in his mouth. At this point all I saw was blood and what appeared to be a deep gash inside his lip from his braces. I wasn’t all that worried. As I walked him across the field he started saying, “My teeth, Mom. My teeth.” I sat him down on the sideline and took a better look in his mouth. The four bottom front teeth were pushed back, like they were all leaning backward, and one of them was pushed so far back that the root was coming through the front of the gum. It was horrifying on so many levels.
Immediately I gathered up all of our stuff, my kids and the extra kids I had brought. One of the moms thrust an icepack into my hand. (I don’t even know who it was, but thank you! Also I need to be more prepared.) I think I was driving on autopilot, trying to stay calm and make sure everyone else was calm. My son was in so much pain that he was shaking, though it didn’t stop him from turning around and (playfully) punching his girlfriend when a VW bug drove by us. It made us all laugh because it is so typical of his personality.
We lucked out at the emergency room and it was completely empty when we arrived. We were taken right back into a room. They gave him some heavy duty pain medication. And then he felt well enough to respond to the many, many texts he was already receiving, as well as texting me. His mouth was so swollen he couldn’t talk. The doctor came in and examined him. He needed stitches (5 or 6 of them, I’m really not sure) and we would need to see the orthodontist about his teeth. He felt confident about the viability of three of the teeth. I would have preferred to hear better news.
I wrote the above two days ago, on Mother’s Day.
Yesterday I brought him to the orthodontist, who pushed the teeth back into place, replaced the broken brackets, and put in a new wire. X-rays showed no obvious root fractures, so it looks like all of the teeth might just make it. I believe the orthodontist’s words were extremely confident they would be just fine, though I guess it can a while for nerve damage to show. I’ll take that. He also said that the braces are what saved his teeth from being completely knocked out.
My daughter made me a book for Mother’s Day. Full of all the reasons she loves me. There was one page that I found disturbing. It was a picture of me with the caption: My Mom Doing One of Her Favorite Things.
I swear I only go there for the cheap snacks.
*The other boy also went to the ER with a giant lump on his head and a suspected concussion.
I’m sure everyone who knows me personally is tired of hearing me talk about my baby going to the prom.
But guys…look at my baby. All dressed up in a tuxedo and heading to the PROM!
(My son just told me that his friends think it looks like a photo that comes with the frame. Can’t stop laughing…)
My son’s girlfriend’s dress is short. But the consensus among my 40+ year old friends is that if we still had the bodies we had 25 years ago we would wear that dress. Truth be told if I could have my 18 yr old body back I would just walk around naked. And admire my ass in a three way mirror. I now have an appreciation of what 25 years of gravity, not to mention childbirth, does to a body.
I discovered that I do not know how to attach a boutineer with that fancy straight pin. I felt so inept and unable to pass down important female knowledge to the next generation. I have a year to learn. And thirteen more proms in the future with which to master this so watch out world!
The best photos I have of them is when they are laughing.
The photos that they probably don’t really like as much as the posed ones.
What no one tells you when your child has a long term girlfriend is that you grow to like then, to be attached to them in your own way. If they break up I would be upset because I really do adore her.
As a child, I was a voracious reader. My mother took me to the library weekly where I would walk out with a stackful of books so high I could barely manage to carry them in my arms. I don’t know if it was because I was an only child being raised by a single mother and therefore spent a lot of time alone, but books were my friends. Many of the characters have taken up permanent residence inside my head. I was the kid who was constantly being forced outdoors for fresh air. I would very grudgingly head outside. And read a book in the shade.
My oldest kids loved to read when they were younger as much as I did as a child. They would carry around their books constantly, looking for an opportunity to sneak in a few pages of reading. They would stay up late at night begging to finish one more chapter. Now they are teenagers and their lives are busy and they read a lot for school. They don’t read much for pleasure anymore, though I am certain that one day they will again rediscover the joy of a good book.
I find it strange when adults tell me they don’t read or that they don’t like to read. I feel sorry for them, for all that I think they are missing out on. Probably how all the people who spent years watching Lost on tv feel when I tell them I have never seen it.
My younger kids? Not so much into the reading. If they don’t find a book fascinating, they will put it down. This is also something I don’t understand. How can you put a book down without finishing it? Don’t you want to know how it turns out? Don’t you care at all about the characters? Thus far in my ehem, long life I have only had one book I could not finish. I hesitate to say what book it is because invariably people say that they loved the book and I should give it another chance. I tried. Trust me I tried, but I just hated it so much that I would get angry while reading it! Let’s just say I would need a hundred years of solitude to ever finish it. That’s a hint right there.
I had these three books sent to me by the folks at Chronicle books. They are the kind of books where you chose your own adventure. We had some of these type of books years ago that we found at an old used bookstore. In spite of the fact that they were musty, old, thin-papered paperbacks, my older kids had really enjoyed them and I wondered why they didn’t seem to be around anymore. So when Chronicle approached me I was really very excited. They have the feel of a graphic novel. I love the look of the books. And even though you aren’t supposed to judge a book by its cover, it totally helps when the cover is cool and enticing, especially for those reluctant readers. You will have the urge to sit in front of your radio and drink Ovaltine while you read.
So what do I do to encourage my kids to read? I made this video to give you some of my tips. And I ramble on and on while playing with an elastic band in my hands so that it looks as if I am having some sort of hand seizure. Just ignore that part.
Here is a little teaser video about the Utimate Adventure Mars book. If this doesn’t get your kids excited, well, then you should poke them really hard and make sure they are still alive!
Thanks to Chronicle Books, your kids can have their very own set of Worst-Case Scenario Ultimate Adventure books. All three books! Just leave me a comment telling me how you get your kids to turn off the tv, video games, etc and read. Summer is coming soon, we all need some new ideas!
One entry per person.
He is going to be playing the guitar in the talent show while the girlfriend of one of my other sons sings. I have heard the song played so many times in the past two weeks I think I could play it now. Even though I have never played the guitar and have no idea how to play the guitar, I feel completely confident that I could step in should the need arise.
You would think that once the talent show is over, I would hope to not hear the song again for a long, long time.
Except not really, because I feel like doing this, stepping out of his comfort zone, is good for him. He is a fabulous self taught guitar player, but suffers from the nagging self doubts that all of us with artistic souls have. I remind him, and myself, that there is no yardstick that measures your success or happiness. Perfection is an illusion. Real life doesn’t come with medals or awards or grades. Life is messy and imperfect and often a little scary. Therein lies the beauty of it all.
Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Do one thing every day that scares you.” I know when he is playing on that stage, he will be doing just that. And I will probably cry a little.
First steps, first teeth, first time sleeping through the night…the milestones we try to commit to memory. Over at Alphamom I wrote about the lasts. The last time our kids do things and how it has made me wistful and yes, teary. Go on over and tell me how you feel.
First time renting a tuxedo…
I went with my son and his girlfriend to pick out his tuxedo for the prom. I’d like to say they invited me for my stellar company, but the reality is they invited me for my credit card. Though I will continue to pretend it was the former. The humored me by asking my opinion, which they promptly, though nicely, discarded. For some reason they didn’t really like my suggestion of the purple pimp hat and rhinestone encrusted cane. I know, there is no accounting for their taste.
The prom. PROM!!! You guys, my baby is wearing a tuxedo and going to the PROM! Didn’t I just go to the prom?
He also opened up a bank account of his very own for the first time. I took a photo of him and his girlfriend in the bank, my son luckily has a good sense of humor, but I was laughing so hard that it was blurry. Baby’s first bank account! Is there a place for that in the baby book? Right next to Baby’s first traffic court appearance and Baby’s first poor fashion choice that will one day make Baby laugh? There should be.
One unexpected benefit of growing up is that they want to spend time with you again. Last weeked my son and his girlfriend (and his girlfriend’s mother) joined me, my younger kids, and some friends at a restaurant/bar/arcade/ outdoor band playing place. It was so nice to hang out with them. They have gotten through the angsty teenage stuff and now are people. Fun, interesting, adult-like people.
The funniest part was at about 12:15 (well past their curfews) they came back over to our table, looking exhausted and said, “Why aren’t you guys tired?” Yup, the teenagers got in their car and left before their old mothers.
I sent my 17 year old a text message this morning with a photo of his 7 year old brother. He had been catcher in the previous nights baseball game and looked so cute in his catching costume, sorry I mean uniform.
The message said: OMG Look at how cute the baby is!
He texted me back: In ten years when he is my age, are you still going to be calling him the baby?
A couple weeks ago I had my annual check-out my lady parts doctor visit. After which I had to have bloodwork done. I procrastinated on the bloodwork because it is fasting bloodwork and I really don’t quite understand how people can function until 8:00am when the blood draw place opens without coffee or food. It also isn’t open weekends. I get up at 5am Monday through Friday, without coffee I would be lying on my kitchen floor in a ball by 8:00.
Finally I went last Friday to have to blood drawn since for a change I did not have to wake up at the crack of dawn, the kids had off from school. The girl got my vein in only one stick (an Easter miracle!) and I treated myself to a coffee on the way home. I promptly forgot all about it.
A couple months ago I began running again, after taking a little break that actually lasted over a year. The weather has been so gorgeous that I blew off my treadmill and went running un the great outdoors. And lo it was good. Except for the part where my knees began to hurt. And I continued running anyway. After a week of that I had to stop because I was in serious knee pain. I decided that I probably needed new sneakers since Susan passed out when I told her I bought them when I was trying to get back into shape after giving birth to Miles… seven years ago.
These two things might seem to be unrelated. Except that today I got a phone call from the doctor’s office about my bloodwork, with a message that said I should call back at my earliest convenience When I called back they were already closed for the day.
I am now convinced that I have knee cancer. Shut up, it is so a thing. And I have it and am dying of it.
Update: I talked to the doctor’s office today and everything came back perfectly normal. So why she couldn’t have left a message saying that is beyond me. So now to buy new running sneakers.
