Living 2008

We had a dentist appointment early (9.45!) this morning. It’s the third time we’ve been and the first time that I didn’t shake uncontrollably and have tears gushing into my ears while on my back with my mouth open. Not that I was ever frightened or anything, I just usually have that strange physical reaction. Ms R happily hopped into the chair to be looked at and presented with a sticker, no worries there either. But this story is really about Master R and his rotten tooth. He was just over two when I first noticed the back tooth which looks as though it has crumbled in half and decayed. On both our previous visits to the dentist he has hidden into my shoulder and refused to open his mouth. In the last six months despite reading many books about trips to the dentist and discussing the importance of getting your teeth checked Master R has maintained that he is never ever going to show anyone his teeth. So I changed tactics and decided to put his defiance to good use. I explained that me and Ms R were going to get our teeth checked and of course, he immediately asked if he could come too. I told him he could come but that he probably wasn’t grown-up enough to have a turn at which point his defiance kicked in. So he climbed up into the chair and bravely opened his mouth while holding my hand with an iron grip. I stood ready for a telling off, expecting to see a look of horror on the dentists face before he embarked on a lecture about sweets and brushing. But instead of a berating for being such a bad, bad Mummy he explained that the tooth had fluorisis rather than decay. He asked if Master R had been treated for an infection when he was younger and told me not to worry about it because eventually it will fall out and hopefully the permanent tooth won’t have been affected. I’m not sure I can describe what it feels like to have twelve months worth of guilt lifted from my shoulders.

Tuesday was a busy day and saw us out of the house by 8am. The Rs visited my parents while I had a brief but timely doctors appointment (she was running late and then kicked me out half way through the consult to take a phone call). Then Ms R had her last dermatology appointment at the hospital which I cycled her to, a pleasant ride along the seafront with the sun shining on us. The wait was long but it was over quickly and the dermatologist told me that she’d only be sending the notes to our GP and not to anyone else. I waffled on a bit about how school nurses don’t want home educated childrens notes which left her looking completely baffled, I wish I knew when to keep my mouth shut.

We had lunch at Mums and did our usual array of things like bouncing on the tampoline, splashing water, and petting dog, cat and kitten before cycling home again. The Rs wanted to ride their bikes so I stood by the garages for a bit as they rode back and forth.

Buzz continues to grow but lately there has been a steady stream of male cats roaming through our garden to remind us just how small she is. Two live next door so we see them quite often. They come one at a time to sniff around and spray up the bush, Buzz stalks them and every so often pounces towards them in a way that suggests she doesn’t actually want to get too close. They mostly take no notice of her. We’ve seen some beautiful cats but something about it all has me feeling that she really must have a little operation soon. Too many big boys prowling around, and I’ve seen what cats do.

A little note about Facebook, although it’s not home ed related. When I first joined up I looked out for my overseas friends. The overseas part of my life ended before I was quite ready and I never said goodbye to anyone. At the times I last saw any of them I didn’t know I wouldn’t be seeing them again soon, I lived amongst a community of people overseas for longer than I’ve ever lived anywhere before or since and for a long time I thought that it would be my home forever. So although I don’t have much contact with them (and nor do I especially want to) it’s nice to see their profile pictures as it makes me feel a little less far away. Interestingly a couple of friends from my secondary school years have found me and that felt very weird at first because that was a stage of my life that I was more than happy to leave behind and I never expected or wanted to return to it. It seems that they are all finding each other and recreating our year group over the internet although I’m not getting actively involved in this. I have a couple of friends from the home ed scene but that seems rather pointless as they are part of my current life. And now tonight someone from my first job has found me. It feels like the gap between my secondary school life and my overseas life has now been filled. It is really strange to see faces from my different lives all together in one group, if thats not a trigger for mental illness I don’t know what is!