The day Braeden lost his wisdom (teeth)

Thursday morning we had an early appointment to get Braeden's teeth out.  Adam went too. I was glad.  My children + surgery is not my happy place.  Also, when I described how Braeden was after the last time he had surgery, Adam said, "That makes me want to cry."  So he went too.

Everything's better when Adam is there.  Even oral surgery.

They called us back when Braeden was recovering.  The bench they had him laying on didn't quite accommodate him (neither did that blanket...or the sweat pants, but where do you find sweat pants that are long enough?  Maybe one of my brothers know?).

He would give us goofy smiles and tried sign language.  I whispered to Adam that I thought Braeden was trying to be funny.  Braeden nodded and smiled.  Nothing wrong with his hearing.

Eventually Adam had to leave to get to work. (Work...it ruins all our fun.  It also pays for stuff.)

So it was up to me to shepherd Braeden, unsteady and gangly, to the van.  A cute young nurse was there to help.  Braeden was hesitant to hold her hands when she offered them but she insisted.

The afternoon was full of vacillating crankiness, gratitude and apologies (about the crankiness) from the patient.  He wouldn't eat anything and he wouldn't drink much.  He did feel well enough to post this picture to Facebook, complete with his adamant declaration that despite his mother's and drama teacher's advice to the contrary, he would be at the drama meeting on Friday morning.

I insist on taking full credit for the tying of the ice packs with my scarf.  I will likely get it patented.  Stylish and useful!

Braeden said he was like Little Bear when he had the mumps.

The saddest thing about my kids growing up?  We don't watch Little Bear anymore.

He also looked like Jacob Marley's ghost, as one of his friends on Facebook pointed out.

In the late afternoon, I brought Jadon over.  He surveyed Braeden and inquired about his health.  They talked (briefly, I was after all in earshot) about girls and then they settled down to play Minecraft.  There was a lot less talking than usual between the two of them, but their solidarity was evident.  Jadon was there for Braeden's cranky subdued self just as much as he's there when Braeden is goofy and argumentative and opinionated.

Friday morning I took my chubby cheeked boy to the school.  He couldn't drive in his drugged state and I couldn't convince him he should stay home.  We stopped and took Leif too.  He assessed Braeden.  "How are you holding up?" he asked.  Leif gets it.  He's had his wisdom teeth out too.  They chatted about healing for a minute then moved on to other topics.  I could see that Braeden was right.  He was OK to go to the school.  Even though it ended up exhausting him, he thrives on social interaction.  He is lucky to have friends that care about him, tolerate his quirks and keep him from taking himself too seriously.

My kids' friends warm my heart.