The Tooth

My boys got teeth late in infancy.  Neither one had any at their first birthday.  I've known all along that they would lose their first tooth later than other kids.  Today, less than a month until his seventh birthday, G lost his first tooth.  It was not loose when I sent him to school this morning.

Just after noon, I was saying goodbye to a parent that had come for a meeting.  I see G walking up the hallway toward me with a worried look on his face and a wad of toilet paper held to his mouth.  I quickly say goodbye to the parent and head up to G.  We go into the nurse.

Me:  "G, what happened?"

G:  "My tooth is loose and bleeding."

Me:  "Yeah, I see.  How did that happen?"

G:  "I was playing tug-of-war and put the rope in my mouth.  This boy pulled on the rope really hard.  And now my tooth is LOOSE!"

Me:  Laughter.

I know its not funny to laugh at misfortune, but its just more of the absurdity of life with boys with ADHD.  I like to think of G as a really smart little guy.  However, there's a huge gap between factual knowledge and common sense with this guy.  I mean, he put a rope in his mouth during a game with "tug" in the name.  And he's surprised when there's blood?!?

I have written before about G picking everything.  This tooth was no exception.  He was adamant that it needed to come out.  I called the dentist, but they don't take out baby teeth, not even when the kid has OCD.  So I sucked it up and sent him back to class, bloody drool and all.

Forty-five minutes later I get word that the tooth is out.  Thank heavens.  True to form, he worried that tooth until it came out.  Its got a really long root, which worries me, so its good that he's going to the dentist tomorrow.  I have a feeling that little baby tooth was nowhere near being ready to come out.  I'll leave final judgement on that for the professionals.

And hopefully, G has learned a valuable lesson about ropes and teeth.