Poor Little Man

I've failed him...he's only 7, but already he has a lifetime of bad dental habits. Hubby and I always assumed that when we sent the kids to get ready for bed and told them to brush their teeth, that was what they did...I mean, it's a habit right...

Well, Little Man avoided the whole brushing thing unless we were standing right there...I should have been standing right there...

He has to have crowns now. He came to us with a toothache that turned out to be a cavity of course. We took him to the dentist, who actually found 4 cavities in 8 teeth. All of his premolars are decaying to some degree or another because the cavities took root in between the teeth. So he has to have his teeth drilled and filed and crowned...and he's only 7. The other 2 kids have no cavities at all, so I guess we assumed that they were all taking care of their teeth the way they should...

So the dentist sent us to a pedodontist (orthodontist specializing in little ones). The pedodontist wants to do the cavities in quadrants, or if Little Man is too squirmy, put him under and do the whole thing in one shot while he sleeps. Our insurance only covers half...and that's if he doesn't have to have the general anesthesia, in that case the anesthesia and related expense isn't covered at all. I'd like to say that the money isn't an issue at all, but of course that would be a lie. It's not a problem, we'll come up with it somehow...but it does matter. It also makes me think about all those folks who wouldn't be able to come up with it in any case...it's no wonder health care is such a problem. Still, if I had done a better job of mothering/monitoring, we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place. I failed...and I feel like shit about it, but that doesn't repair the child's teeth...

it's a rough job...

but someone has to do it. I've been missing for a little while because I'm getting a little training in Florida. I know, it's tough having to make this sacrifice, but I'm just that kind of girl. Taking one for the team and all that...

Is it really March already?

This is my first of the month update post...on the 5th...

I took a few days off last week to get some things done around the house while there was no one else there...a very productive few days, but I had little time for anything else...I was thoroughly surprised to find that it's been almost 3 weeks since my last post.

Firstly, the neighbors...they resolved whatever issue it was that had them served a notice to vacate...only to see that car pull around again last week. I'm not sure what the result of that was, but I doubt their mortgage/rental company is likely to be understanding about it much longer. The kids are still living in the house and riding the bus with mine...but then I wasn't really expecting anything different. The younger child has a court date some time in June or July...until then, he gets to run free like nothing happened.

Resolutions update...I've done terrible this month...I worked out a little less then half the days of the month, and my weight has been up and down like a yoyo...end result-no change. I weighed 162 at the beginning of the month and 162 at the end of the month...still, only 20 lbs to go and 10 months to get there...

On the bright side, we've had a lot of time with the kids this month, and hubby's grades are still 4.0 material...he made the President's List last semester...not that I'm terribly surprised by that, but it's nice to be recognized.

Nothing else is really new...I'm just plugging along, getting ready to spend a year away from my family...I do get to take R&R around half way, so if I work it right I might get to be home for Christmas...but then again...I don't want to give the kids false hope, so I haven't told them anything about a mid-tour trip. Maybe, if I'm lucky, it'll all work out so that I can be home when they don't have to be in school.

Speaking of school...I'm not sure why, but the colleges don't have the same spring break as the grade schools around here...so no spring vacation for us...my folks will be very disappointed if I don't go to visit (read: bring the kids for a visit) before I go to the desert for a year...I'm going to have to figure something out...