Man to Man...

Jake's going to the dentist today... so of course I had to have a Man to Man talk with him in the car at the end of the driveway as we waited for the bus to come. Jake is in Kindergarten and so on the days he goes to school (because it is freezing up here)... we get to have some father son time talking about life... goofing around... doing the things that fathers and sons do. So anyway, to preface this story, this last summer Jake was jumping on the trampoline and he landed on his face and knocked a tooth out... scratch that... snapped a tooth off... of course I saw the whole thing and I was like... "Shake it off... you're okay... everybody knocks a tooth out when they are a kid... You're NOT dying... quit crying..." (Typical "be tough" father son moment... forget the compassion or that he is six years old... I know... I'm a great dad, but I am trying.) After further examination a few days later, he still has a little stump remaining in his mouth. So we called the dentist to see if we should be concerned and he said that the tooth coming in behind it would probably push the remaining portion out; No Dice. Now, due to our delay at getting him into the dentist, his front tooth is coming in at a 90 degree angle... (okay, not 90 degrees... but 45 degrees for sure.) Bites... *slight chuckle* Hopefully, he isn't scarred for life by being labeled "snaggle-tooth" when he hits the third grade... but only time will tell.

ANYWAY, back to my story... I decided to prepare himself for the visit today and encourage him to "be tough" when the dentist gives him Novocain to reduce the pain. My "little man" had a few tears run down his face as he assured his dad that he would be tough.

He is tougher than I am... he can show his emotions.

Ben

UPDATE:

Jake went to the dentist and he got his tooth pulled. The shot of novocain hurt so bad that he chose to have his tooth pulled without novocain... WHAT?!? Who does that?!? Besides that... as a dentist, why would you let a six year old make that decision. But he lived with his decision and get this: He thanked the dentist for pulling his tooth on the way out the door. Now that's flippin tough. Aaaahh... enough to make a dad proud. Also, it wasn't a tooth that snapped off; it was a 3rd tooth growing in. Must have been that recessive gene coming from Sydney's side of the family. Right Sydney? ;)