The Dentist and the Happy Campers

Boy, I have not been very consistent in blogging lately, have I? I am not sure what the protocol is, but I admit, I like visiting blogs whose authors post everyday. I'm sorry I have not been one of them!

We had a busy weekend! My mother took John and Jeremy camping with her early Saturday morning, so we spent Friday packing the van and getting the boys ready. Originally, I was going to go with her but I decided not to this year. It's a lot with Joe and now we have the house on the market so I feel that I should be here. We had some traffic over the weekend and one couple was very serious about our house. We have it stated in our listing that the sale is contingent on our relocation, so if relocation does not happen, we don't move.

On Friday I had to take John to the dentist for the second time last week. He had an abscess in his tooth and the dentist decided to pull the tooth, his permanent tooth was beginning to come in and it was making that baby one very loose and ready to come out anyway. I was so nervous! He had an x-ray a couple of days before this and it was hard for him, poor thing. That thing they stick in your mouth is very rough on the gums and he kept pushing it out of the way with his tongue. He had tears in his eyes but he was very adamant that he was not crying, but the x-ray device was making his eyes water. I told him that it was alright if he was crying, that I understood how uncomfortable it was. (He has no idea how much I understood! I once had to have the nitrous gas for a cleaning!) He was so brave, but my heart was breaking for him.

When we had to go back on Friday for the extraction, I thought I was going to have to get the nitrous gas to get through the tooth pull ordeal. You would not believe John, he did great! Not a word of complaint or protest. Our dentist was wonderful, explaining what she was going to do, letting him see the tools and patiently answering his questions. After the tooth was out he told the dentist, "I like getting my teeth pulled better than I like getting x-rays." She laughed and said that was the first and only time she would probably ever hear that. I was so proud of my little man, I thought my heart would burst!

Friday night, Jeremy was crying and said he did not want to go camping because he would miss me too much. I told him he didn't have to go anywhere he did not want to and he could stay home with me and Joe. He didn't really want to stay home either, he wanted me to go with him. He looked at me with eyes full of big tears and said, "Mommy, why can't you just come?" I said that I would drive up in a few days and that made him feel better. I stayed in his bed rubbing his back and praying for him until he fell asleep. In the morning he felt better and was ready to go. I called them after they had been gone for about 2 hours and my mom said they were doing just fine. She said she would call when they arrived at the campground so the boys could say hi again. I was out when she called back but Kevin talked to Jeremy and he said, "Daddy, I don't miss you anymore!"

I knew he would be fine, he is with my mom, whom he adores, and his cousins and my mother's brothers and sisters. In the past, everyone in our family has gone camping together, a regular reunion in the woods! The boys just love to camp and I hate to deny them that pleasure. My mother could not wait to take them with her, she loves to see what new game or adventure they come up with in the woods or at the lake. Their cousins, two girls, are there with them and they are always so eager to do whatever the boys want to do. When my mom called yesterday she said the kids had been playing army and Nicole had a very important job. Her mother was calling her to come and get changed but she said, "Mom, I can't come now! John said I am the look-out and I can't leave my post!"

So they will be gone for the week and I am preparing our curriculum for next year. Wish me luck!