Good day! I’m feeling a bit meh today. I couldn’t sleep last night. Maybe I had too much on my mind? Maybe the trek back from London was exhausting? Maybe I felt in physical pain spending half an hour on my hands and knees wiping bulgar wheat and tomato sauce off the floor thanks to the OddSon playing frisbee with his bowl of dinner? I was never much of a catcher.
Either way, last night I kept staring at the clock. 10pm. 11pm. 12am. 12.30am. 1am. That was the last I remember before falling asleep. The OddSon decided to then put me back in my place by waking up at 5am. He went back to sleep, but only by holding onto me and not letting go. And he’s pretty big these days so I had to remain focussed on not dropping the kid – I hear that sort of thing is frowned upon. So, here I am.
But yeah, the OddSon is a bit crazy. I heard all the stereotypes about the differences between boys and girls, but I didn’t expect it to be so obvious. The OddDaughter was speaking pretty fluently by two years old, whereas the OddSon largely communicated through grunting up until recently. The OddDaughter wasn’t really (and still isn’t) very good at kicking a football to the desired location, the OddSon is close to putting me to shame already. As far as I’m aware, I have had the same approach to parenting them both – usually keeping them on their toes by switching between good cop and bad cop in the space of a sentence.
At the turn of the year I had both kids whilst Mrs OddFather was at work. The day was going well, Christmas spirit and all – we played games, had lots of hugs, and ate more chocolate than Mrs OddFather would usually allow. Then the day turned for the worst. The OddSon decided to climb up on a standard dining table chair to reach a miniature Spider-Man book he got in an advent calendar. I was right next to him. Having finally come to terms that he knew what he was doing over the past couple of weeks I decide I could take a step away. One step. Next I know, the Oddson managed to fall from the chair, face-first onto the floor tiles.
I tended to him quickly, saw a cut lip and went to give him cuddles. Surprisingly, he settled down rather quickly. It was only when I went to take a closer look I saw his front tooth smashed and jagged. Cue panic.
I’ve inserted a gif but I’m not laughing. Even thinking about it now fills me with sadness, anxiety, and regret. I was right there next to him. I can’t even look at photos from the day or those goddamn Spider-Man miniature books. I blame the books but really it’s on me.
After calling Mrs OddFather in a blind panic, she managed to get the OddSon to a dentist. I don’t know what I was expecting – maybe for them to somehow fix his teeth back to what they were? Let’s be honest, we all knew the entire tooth had to be taken out. Even more shockingly, we were informed the NHS usually has a one-year waiting list for the removal procedure. Luckily, Mrs OddFather once again managed to get seen to much sooner. I mean we had to – the OddSon wasn’t able to eat with the pain of a sharp tooth going into his lip. Within a couple of weeks the procedure took place. The thought of my baby being put under anaesthetic devastated me. As you no doubt can guess, this is where my wife excels more than me. She was by his side when he came through and handled the chat with doctors respectfully without panic… something I’m fairly certain I wouldn’t have been able to do.
The additional bad news – they had to take out both front teeth as part of the procedure due to the damage. It sounds silly but I went through a bit of a period of grief. We always had comments about how cute the OddSon was – and as foolish as it now sounds, I feared he would lose that. I looked back at photos of him having teeth and felt sadness and guilt.
Fast-forward 5 months and I’m more accepting of the situation – the gummy smile actually adds to the OddSon’s cheeky image. I vow not to put my unease/insecurity onto him. If I don’t make a thing out of it, he won’t grow up feeling insecure about it. There’s a 50% chance his adult teeth may be impacted when they come through, from some discolouring to not coming through at all. Fingers crossed it’s nothing to fret about any further, time will tell. Plus, who know what advancements may come along in a few years in the dentistry world, let alone the solutions we have today…
Yep – Still too soon to joke.
