Not The Face! Anything But The Face!

My son, my first-born son, my angelic-faced boy broke his front tooth today playing on the schoolyard. And I can tell you that I had no idea I would care so much about a tooth. But just seeing it chipped off at an angle made me burst into tears. It's such a shock to see his little mouth so jagged-edged; I think of him in a much smoother way. The fat lip and dried blood don't help, either.

In case you've never broken a tooth (or had a child whose done so for you), apparently you can't glue the broken piece back on and call it a day. Since he's 10, and still growing and hasn't lost all his baby teeth yet, the dentist will put on a bonding compound that will be a little plastic replacement for his old chipped tooth -- ps, that will only last as long as he doesn't eat any apples or other hard food for the next few years, while we wait for his body to fully grow up so he can get a veneer to replace it permanently.

This I learned in a frantic call to the dentist. I guess it's applesauce from now on.

I think it's very shallow of me to want his face to be perfect, but I can't help what I want. I still can see his little tiny face as I held him in my arms as an infant. Do all moms see their kids that way? Even when he's 25, will I still see the little baby in him?

I'm so glad he didn't break anything else on his body, although he's sore. I realize it could have been much worse, and of course I'm so grateful he's well in every other sense. But his beautiful smile has been altered and I'm really sad about it.

All in a day's work for a mom, right? So now I'm off to make him some soft foods to eat.

This is an original post for the LA Moms Blog. When she's not freaking out over dental work, Sarah blogs at SarahAuerswald.com and MarVistaMom.com.