Kim Jong Il's Blog

No not really, but this is still hilarious. Warning: contains minor language. Doesn't look like it's been updated since July, though. Too bad, it's awesome.

http://users.livejournal.com/kim_jong_il__/

Dental woes

I have been very fortunate that in my (almost) 29 years, I've never had a cavity (or at least, one I know about). I don't know if I have my mom to thank (as she has told me numerous times that she drank a LOT of milk during her pregnancy), good genes, or vigilant family members who constantly told me to brush my teeth. I had always hoped that my kids would be as lucky as I was. Well, not so much. Emma has had one cavity filled, and during the last couple of weeks, has been telling me that her tooth hurts. So, off we go yesterday to the dentist. I'm thinking that it's just another cavity, silently berating myself that I let her get another one. She gets an x-ray done to see how bad it is, and the nurse comes back with a shocker. She's got an infection in her tooth that's down to her nerve. The first course of action is an antibiotic regimen to get rid of the infection. After that, we could either of two things: a pulpotomy (now doesn't THAT sound fun), where they basically drill down to the nerve, and then put something in there that deadens it, and then come back on another day to get a crown put on ($$$$$), OR just pull the tooth ($24). I kid you not, it's cheaper to PULL a 7 year old's tooth, than it is to fix it. This, I just don't get. It wouldn't be a stumper for me what to do, if this were a baby tooth that was going to fall out in the next year or so. No, this is a molar, which might not fall out on its own until she's 10 or 11. Now, she's been pretty early with some of her teeth falling out (she's had 8 come out in 2 years), so in all respects, this one could be out as early as age 9, but still. That's a 2 FULL years without a tooth, and having to have a metal spacer put in to keep the space open. Call me snobby, but I'm not sure that's a stigma I want to put on my kid. Ugh, I hate parenting decisions like this. We have until the 10th of January to decide. That's when she'll go in next, after the infection's gone. I just feel so bad for her. She hates doctors/dentists already, now I get to have her freak out every time we only go for a check-up or a cleaning.

Emma's 7

Emma turned 7 years old yesterday, at 7:01am PST. She's had a busy few days celebrating. She had her special birthday snack at school on Friday. I brought in homemade cupcakes with pink frosting & sprinkles. We had a few extras so we walked around the school giving them out to specific people (the librarian, her music teacher, the principal). Her classmates sung Happy Birthday to her, and she got to wear a special birthday crown all day.
She had her party on Saturday. She wanted a slumber party. We had invited 8 girls, but only 2 were able to make it, which was fine by me. Three 6/7 years olds all running around, doped up on caffeine & sugar was enough for me. We had pizza for dinner, then Coldstone ice cream cake. We opened gifts & they played games/watched a movie/had popcorn. They were all so excited that they didn't end up falling asleep until close to midnight. The next morning we had cinnamon rolls for breakfast & then the girls' parents came & picked them up. It was nice, and I know Emma had a fun time.
We got Emma a Disney Princess remote control racecar (BIG hit), and she picked out this Glo-E Bear at the store. It lights up & has a wand so you can change the colors that the bear lights up to. It's kinda pretty. We saw that they also had a smaller one without a wand for littler kids. Might be a cool present for Sarah as a nightlight. Her little friends got her a Bratz slumber party doll (ugh, I don't like the Bratz, but whatever...) & a My Little Pony Pegasus. Another reason I was glad not too many girls came. I think Emma needs to realize that presents are NOT the reason to have a party. She needs to get out of that mentality.
Having the girls over this weekend made me realize that Emma needs to have friends over more often. I feel so bad for her sometimes. She doesn't have a BEST friend that she sees all the time. And every time she gets something that's close, something happens. She had Ryan in San Diego, and then moved to Tennessee, and while we still see them, it's only maybe twice a year. Then when we moved here, she had Morgan across the street. Well then WE moved. During Kindergarden it was Meghan S. & Rachael. Neither of them go to Morey anymore, and I somehow lost Rachael's mom's phone number (grumble). She really seems to get along nicely with a couple girls from her class, so I think we're going to make more of an effort to have them come over to play.