Monday

            Monday morning we were running right on schedule. I should have known the day was not going to go according to plan. I mean, how often are you on-time if you have children? We had to be at Vacation Bible School early because I’m a volunteer. I sent the kids upstairs to plug in their hand held games and I put their breakfast on the table. I heard a thunk and a loud shriek of pain.

            I found Owen on the stairs crying and covering his face. He had dropped his PSP so I didn’t know if he was injured or simply in mourning for killing his brand-new game. He gets pretty dramatic about very minor bumps and bruises so I wasn’t concerned just yet. When he moved his hands away to talk to me I realized his shrieks were well earned. He had landed on stairs mouth first. He hadn’t broken or lost a tooth but there was a nasty cut inside his lip and lot of blood in his mouth. We thought his front tooth might be loose.

            I called the pediatrician’s office and spoke to the nurse. I didn’t know if we should go to the emergency room, the doctor’s office or the dentist. She was marvelous and patient and advised me to call the dentist—apparently they don’t suture the inside of the mouth unless it’s really serious. My next call was to the dentist who was able to see us right away.

            It turns out that there is a very minor crack in his front tooth—we could only see it when he shined an ultra violet light at it. The dentist said it probably won’t be an issue. He said in very rare cases it might mean a root canal down the line—but that was very unlikely. Owen doesn’t know what a root canal is, but the word made him burst into tears. Smart boy—maybe smarter than the dentist who said it in front of him.

            When we got home I let the boys watch old episodes of Sponge Bob and fed them a variety of easy to eat foods—smoothies, popsicles, Ramen noodles. I spent most of the day trying to make Owen comfortable. I managed to send out the following Tweets:

My 9 year old took a face plant on the stairs this morning. Emergency dental visit & now Advil, popsicles & Sponge Bob marathon. #rainyday

and

Plan for the day-do something fun b/f James' surgery on Thursday. Reality: injured Owen, emergency dental, raining & bickering. #awesome

            After feeding the boys and putting to them bed, Dan and I needed some time to chill out. We poured ourselves a drink and settled down to watch The Tudors—one of our favorite flavors of brain candy (did I mention how much I loved having Netflix instant view this week?). A little before 9:00 there was a quiet knock on the front door. It sounded like someone who didn’t want to wake the children.

            My husband opened the door. My best friend was standing on our front steps. She is a private person so, I’m going to call her Kate Sterling*. Kate and I have been friends since we rode the bus together in elementary school.

“A little birdie told me you were having a bad day,”  she said as she handed over a large shopping bag that contained a box of gourmet cupcakes, a bottle of really good bourbon, a bouquet of sunflowers, and cards for both of the boys. She had read about my day on my Twitter stream and came to cheer me up.

            I have a lot of blessings in my life that I talk about on this blog. My kids are (usually) healthy, we have nice home and plenty of food to eat. I have a great extended family and a fabulous husband. One of my blessings doesn’t get mentioned on my blog as often is this friendship that has lasted for over thirty years. Kate is as close to me as a family member. When describing her, I often say, “If I called her at 3:00 in the morning to ask for help, she’d be on her way before I could tell her what the problem was.”  This week, when I was having a rough time, I didn’t even need to ask for help and she was there. Kate Sterling, you are an amazing person. I’m so thankful you are in my life!

*Kate Sterling is a character we invented nearly a thousand years ago.