Posted Thursday, March 5, 2009 - 13:40 by Anonymous
I'm very relieved to report that the perceived tic was just Thomas' tongue pushing against that loose tooth which finally fell out on Saturday while I was in the dressing room at David's Bridal trying on purple dresses with my mom. I can remember it very clearly because Jonathan called me when I had a short lavender chiffon dress over my head while my mom was trying to write down the style number. It was very exciting and the best part was that Thomas has gotten over his initial trepidation about tooth loss. Jonathan managed to get Thomas to understand that with his new "big-boy" teeth, he would be able to chew better. This satisfied him and he was fine when the tooth finally fell out. It was apparently hanging on by a thread and Jonathan was concerned that he wouldn't be able to get it out without hurting Thomas. He managed to pull it out and there was some bleeding but it didn't bother Thomas. Usually the sight of his own blood can send Thomas into hysterics. I'm kind of surprised that he didn't request a Band-Aid for his mouth. This is how things work with Thomas. Trial-and-error explanations until something works.
The Tooth Fairy however, at Thomas' own request, did not make an appearance on Saturday night. He says that he's "still thinking about it" when we mention money being left under his pillow. That's fine with us. Although the Tooth Fairy's visit is a rite of passage and a tradition that most parents and children enjoy, if that's the worst thing we miss out on because of Thomas' struggles, I'll be just fine. And besides, he's still thinking about it. That doesn't mean "no." Actually, I know what's going to happen. When he's twelve and all of his teeth have fallen out, he's going to stop hedging about the Tooth Fairy, leave ALL of his baby teeth under his pillow and demand some kind of huge fee plus interest. Hopefully, the economy will have recovered by then.
Speaking of that, I have officially begun working. I don't know if I'm supposed to mention the name of the restaurant, but it's a pretty well-known chain. The scheduling thing is working out OK, but just OK. Jonathan's schedule at work has inadvertently gone against the grain all week. If I've had to work at 5 p.m., then that's the one day that they send him way downtown and it takes him an hour and a half to get home. Yesterday I was off work and he was home around 3 p.m. My mother-in-law had to come over on Tuesday, or so we thought. I was seriously turning the knob on the front door to leave for work when Jonathan walked in. Cripes! And I've been scheduled for today, so my mother-in-law is coming over again to take Hayley to dance class. Even if Jonathan is home in time, it'll be easier with his mom's car. I went out to find a job without really thinking about the fact that we only have one car, technically. We can use Jonathan's work truck if we really have to, but it's filthy most of the time and the kid's car seats don't fit into it very well. What I really need is a bike, or a little electric scooter. The restaurant is less than two miles away and to get there I don't even have to go through a stoplight. Also, I think I'd look really cute on a little Vespa-style scooter with goggles and a helmet on, buzzing my way to work and back. Anyway, I have told my manager that I can't work Thursdays until mid-May. I hope she remembers.
The kids have been adjusting well to the change. They appear to understand what's going on. Hayley was reluctant to let me go on Monday, but Jonathan said she got over it fairly quickly. I had yesterday off and right after dinner, Jonathan was fast-forwarding the DVR through American Idol which I missed on Tuesday while I was at work. He was going to just the important parts when Thomas came up to me and took my hand and said, "Everything's back to normal now." I didn't understand, but Jonathan surmised that perhaps Thomas was talking about the fact that I was home yesterday night like "normal." He doesn't seem to have a hard time with me being at work or telling him that I have to go to work that night but he apparently prefers it when I'm home. I'm glad he likes me. When I get dressed for work he tells me, "Mommy, you're a beautiful waitress." He's so adorable! Someday, when they actually let me serve tables instead of train on their rather backwards computer system or follow more experienced servers around, Jonathan can bring the kids once in a while for dinner. The only bad thing about that is that there's no point in him leaving me a nice tip.
So I have re-entered the professional community with as little stress to my family as possible. Everyone is still adjusting but I think that it's a good thing for the kids to see that Mommy can work too and that Daddy can be a caregiver. It also helps that most nights, I leave made-from-scratch freshly-baked cookies to bribe everyone (including Jonathan) into good behavior.
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I'm very relieved to report that the perceived tic was just Thomas' tongue pushing against that loose tooth which finally fell out on Saturday while I was in the dressing room at David's Bridal trying on purple dresses with my mom. I can remember it very clearly because Jonathan called me when I had a short lavender chiffon dress over my head while my mom was trying to write down the style number. It was very exciting and the best part was that Thomas has gotten over his initial trepidation about tooth loss. Jonathan managed to get Thomas to understand that with his new "big-boy" teeth, he would be able to chew better. This satisfied him and he was fine when the tooth finally fell out. It was apparently hanging on by a thread and Jonathan was concerned that he wouldn't be able to get it out without hurting Thomas. He managed to pull it out and there was some bleeding but it didn't bother Thomas. Usually the sight of his own blood can send Thomas into hysterics. I'm kind of surprised that he didn't request a Band-Aid for his mouth. This is how things work with Thomas. Trial-and-error explanations until something works.
The Tooth Fairy however, at Thomas' own request, did not make an appearance on Saturday night. He says that he's "still thinking about it" when we mention money being left under his pillow. That's fine with us. Although the Tooth Fairy's visit is a rite of passage and a tradition that most parents and children enjoy, if that's the worst thing we miss out on because of Thomas' struggles, I'll be just fine. And besides, he's still thinking about it. That doesn't mean "no." Actually, I know what's going to happen. When he's twelve and all of his teeth have fallen out, he's going to stop hedging about the Tooth Fairy, leave ALL of his baby teeth under his pillow and demand some kind of huge fee plus interest. Hopefully, the economy will have recovered by then.
Speaking of that, I have officially begun working. I don't know if I'm supposed to mention the name of the restaurant, but it's a pretty well-known chain. The scheduling thing is working out OK, but just OK. Jonathan's schedule at work has inadvertently gone against the grain all week. If I've had to work at 5 p.m., then that's the one day that they send him way downtown and it takes him an hour and a half to get home. Yesterday I was off work and he was home around 3 p.m. My mother-in-law had to come over on Tuesday, or so we thought. I was seriously turning the knob on the front door to leave for work when Jonathan walked in. Cripes! And I've been scheduled for today, so my mother-in-law is coming over again to take Hayley to dance class. Even if Jonathan is home in time, it'll be easier with his mom's car. I went out to find a job without really thinking about the fact that we only have one car, technically. We can use Jonathan's work truck if we really have to, but it's filthy most of the time and the kid's car seats don't fit into it very well. What I really need is a bike, or a little electric scooter. The restaurant is less than two miles away and to get there I don't even have to go through a stoplight. Also, I think I'd look really cute on a little Vespa-style scooter with goggles and a helmet on, buzzing my way to work and back. Anyway, I have told my manager that I can't work Thursdays until mid-May. I hope she remembers.
The kids have been adjusting well to the change. They appear to understand what's going on. Hayley was reluctant to let me go on Monday, but Jonathan said she got over it fairly quickly. I had yesterday off and right after dinner, Jonathan was fast-forwarding the DVR through American Idol which I missed on Tuesday while I was at work. He was going to just the important parts when Thomas came up to me and took my hand and said, "Everything's back to normal now." I didn't understand, but Jonathan surmised that perhaps Thomas was talking about the fact that I was home yesterday night like "normal." He doesn't seem to have a hard time with me being at work or telling him that I have to go to work that night but he apparently prefers it when I'm home. I'm glad he likes me. When I get dressed for work he tells me, "Mommy, you're a beautiful waitress." He's so adorable! Someday, when they actually let me serve tables instead of train on their rather backwards computer system or follow more experienced servers around, Jonathan can bring the kids once in a while for dinner. The only bad thing about that is that there's no point in him leaving me a nice tip.
So I have re-entered the professional community with as little stress to my family as possible. Everyone is still adjusting but I think that it's a good thing for the kids to see that Mommy can work too and that Daddy can be a caregiver. It also helps that most nights, I leave made-from-scratch freshly-baked cookies to bribe everyone (including Jonathan) into good behavior.