Grace, think you're doing the right thing. Teeth are pretty important and we underestimate how the health of them can cause problems. My sister is a family law attorney and she says one of the biggest issues she sees is horrible dental decay and kids with major issues. A lot of them are in pain and can't express it correctly. You are also correct that baby teeth can rot the adult ones behind them. If you mess with the root, then she'll have problems with that the rest of her life. So green means go for me on this one.
Haven't we all sat there in the dark and mourned the circumstances of our lives? Every time I get like that lately, I think of how it would be to have a child like ours in a developing country, or for that matter, ANY child in a Third World country. I was telling my daughter yesterday that there are little girls that can't even walk to get water from the village well in some places for fear of what will happen to them. Or what if you needed a doctor and all you had was some crazy witch doctor bleeding chickens over your sick child? So any problems she has are totally solvable. She has great people skills and is very mature for her age. I don't worry much about her. It'll all be OK.
My mom always used to say that kind of stuff to me, and it really drove me crazy growing up. The older I get, the more I see her point. I am so grateful that I can be a parent here and now. The old, "This, too, shall pass thing" is something to embrace right about now.
That being said, I'll share my "nightmare" scenario. I'm getting a little worried about the whole puberty thing for my DS. He's only 7, but he reads everything. When we were at the doctor's office last week, they had a brochure on the wall about puberty. My son said, "Mom, what's Pub-erty?" Uh, how do we talk about that without Mr. Literal going on some tangent? He's already all boy about "parts". I get worried about his lack of social skills getting him in trouble in this department. Or I worry about someone taking advantage of a child like him. I'm almost afraid to send him into a men's room by himself. I don't know that he'd understand if someone were to do something inappropriate.
He has such a big "wall" up because of the kids at school teasing him. He tends to just laugh things off, but as he gets older, that's going to get much harder. I want him to be aware and fight for himself. He's already had another boy at school make fun of him at school for sitting down to pee. My question was, what in the world was that kid doing looking at DS? I know for sure they have stall doors in the boys room at school (uh-huh, I checked when we were there one night for Brownie meeting).
I don't want to freak him out, but he needs to get more aggressive about telling other kids to knock it off. He's already bigger than most of the kids in his class, and Dad's 6'5". All it would take is one good punch and everyone would leave him alone. Some kid purposely stepped on his leg in the carpool line and my daughter said that same kid makes fun of my child all the time. I said, "Just one big punch. I'll back you up at school in the meeting. Just knock that kid's lights out next time." I know, I shouldn't advocate violence. But boys don't do well with "group counseling" and warm fuzzies. I'm just realistic.
See, now here I go crying in my soup. Uggghhhh.
LaraK, nice to meet you, too. I am interested in your story. It's tough for me to cry in my soup too much when by all accounts my son is healthy. I'm not familiar with your son's condition, but I offer my support and compassion for him and you.
Here, I'll throw some of these around
. Don't know what else to do...
I can so relate to the dentist visits --luckily they are much better now at 11, although braces are coming up once more teeth erupt and I'm dreading that day.
