When a root canal begins to look appealing...

On Monday I went in for my first of several appointments to get a root canal on one of my molars. I've never had so many dental woes as I have in the past few months. It started late last fall when I discovered a piece of one of my molars had just broken off. Just like that. One day my tongue wandered to the back of my mouth and oops, there it was. A missing piece. The dentist told me I would need a crown, but on last year's insurance a crown would have practically swept us off into bankruptcy (well, not quite). Garrett and I decided to sign up for new dental insurance, wait until the new year when it would go into affect, and then get a cheaper crown. Which I did. Unfortunately, the crown didn't do the job. My tooth still ached and it was determined that a root canal was in order. So now that's underway. All this to say that what was most striking to me in this whole process was that when I scheduled the root canal and was told that it would take two to three visits to complete, the biggest part of me was annoyed because it's really hard to find daytime child care and dentist offices are not exactly kid friendly so I can't take them with. But there was a much smaller part of me that actually thought "hey, three brief mornings away from the kids. I could take a book and read for ten minutes in the waiting room. I could listen to the radio in the car or just sit and drive and think about quiet things!" And those thoughts were pretty appealing. So even though the reason for those times away is that I have to go have certain nerves forcibly removed from my face, there was a part of me that saw a silver lining. You could call me an optimist. Or just a rather worn out mom.

In any case, given my level of fatigue I have to say I am delighted that Grandma Linda arrived for a visit last night. Garrett's mom got into town and she'll be here until next Tuesday and it's a winning situation for everyone involved! Last night the little ones were in bed by the time she arrived at our apartment, but this morning things have been wonderful. We already took a jaunt to a movement and dance class offered through my MOPS group, so we got some time for fun and socializing and tasty food. All the kids quickly warmed up to grandma. In fact I think Gabriel has already decided she is not allowed to go home next week; she's just too much fun to have right here with us. I'm looking forward to a few days of help and rest. And watching a delighted grandma with delighted babies isn't too shabby a way to pass the time either.