The Worst Day

Yesterday we experienced a little bit of trauma in our family.  We had a great morning at church which was followed by a quick lunch at Panera - our kids' favorite place to have soup in a breadbowl.  We headed home to tidy up before the rest of the day began.

I was in the laundry room folding clothes, when I heard a scream from Cole that made me want to dash up the stairs to find him.  Evidently Tim read the scream the way I did because he was already half way there by the time I got moving.  Since he was on his way, I slowed down and continued up to see what had happened.  My heart quickened once again when I heard Tim saying, "go get your mom, go get your mom"!  Of course by then, I was in full panic mode as I tried to imagine what would constitute my need to be there, when Tim (who is always calm and objective) was there already.  So, you can only imagine my apprehension as I rounded the corner and got to the top of the stairs.  I could see Tim and Cole standing in the bathroom and I was looking all over for signs of blood.  The floor and carpet were still white, but Tim's face was not looking good and Cole was hysterical.  As he turned to see me, with tears streaming down his face, I noticed that he was missing something.  He had broken one of his permanent front teeth - it now looked like a triangle, rather than the beautiful white rectangle that had been there just minutes before.

I picked the poor baby up and took him away from the mirror as I tried to settle him down, and Tim went off to find the remnants of his tooth.  I held him as tight as I could, and he cried, "this is the worst day of my entire life"!  I wanted to burst into tears for him.  A broken tooth in the very front will be there for the rest of his life.  How insightful for him to realize what a sad event he'd just endured.  I don't know if you've even broken a tooth, but when it happens, your tongue just keeps messing with the deformity.  I don't know why - it is wierd - but it's like the brain just keeps sending the tongue to see if the tooth is repaired yet.

Tim went downstairs to call Dr. Pete, a good friend of our family.  He asked a few questions and then told Tim to bring him to the office and he would fix our Cole up!  Cole was settling down and we began to get him ready to go.  Reed came in and saw the damage and his first comment was, "Cole, if you could just break the other one off, you'd look like a vampire"!  I didn't think that was very funny, but Cole sure did.  I think he even contemplated it for a second.  Brooks came in and sat with him for a few minutes and told him some facts about Mars.  Caroline was close by, too, helping him with her hugs and compassionate comments.  

Dr. Pete was terrific.  He checked the situation out and molded some bonding material to the broken tooth.  He was his usual happy and encouraging self - cracking jokes and talking 90 miles a minute.  Cole was a trooper.  He didn't cry anymore after the initial accident.  He was so still in Pete's chair and was patient through the entire procedure.  I wasn't feeling quite as calm, but he was calm, cool, and collected.

As the day went on, I was able to rehash the entire afternoon.  I think our children helped Cole in their reaction just as much or more than Tim and I did.  Reed brought humor to the situation - and everyone who is familiar with our little Cole knows how much he loves to laugh.  Brooks and Caroline didn't hesitate to rush in with a hug and an encouraging word.  Who thinks to talk about Mars at a time like that?  Caroline immediately revamped her afternoon plans with a friend to allow both Tim and I to go to Pete's office.  The 3 older kids helped Cole, Tim, and I by making things feel less serious and complicated.

A horrible thing happened today, yet as I think about it in relation to the rest of his life, I hope he's right.  If a broken front tooth is the worst thing that will ever happen to him in his life, then I'll take it.