Grateful

We spent our morning at the pediatric dentist. Not a big emergency, but something that needed attention. Never a dull moment, folks.

My dear son has a habit of making a pest of himself. One way he does this is to hug his little sister whether she wants to or not. Last night, she did not. He came up behind her and locked her arms down in a bear hug. She told him to let her go. Of course, he didn't. She threw her head back in an effort to extricate him from her person. Wailing ensued.

One of his lower canines was knocked loose. He was in some pain and scared out of his wits. Poor Sweetness was in as much pain as he was. She certainly never meant to hurt him. She never wants to hurt anyone. She just wanted him off of her. Now.

Calls to the dentist assured us that he would be OK until morning. Give him some Advil and come by for an x-ray when the office opened. Having done that, we are now assured that all will be fine. He will probably be sore for a couple of weeks, but time and a healthy body will heal his wounds.

And while I am really grateful that we don't have a lost tooth or anything worst than we have, what I am most grateful for is that my sweet daughter can not only say, "no", she can also say, "NO!" Life with my boy is never dull. It has been difficult for such a tender-hearted little girl to have such a testosterone-filled big brother. He is every inch boy and she has suffered for it on more that one occasion. Bloody noses, bumps on the head, lots of hurt feelings. LOTS of hurt feelings.

But if she survives her childhood, and all indications are that she will, she will have one up on most young ladies. Certainly one up on her mother. I was a weenie from the word go. I put myself in situations and let some things happen to me that I could easily have prevented, but I just couldn't find the words or actions to stop them. My prayer is that she will not suffer the same fate.

She's the pinkest little girl you will ever meet. But make no mistake, she's a tough one. Don't mess with the Baby Girl.