no mercy

NO PHOTO AVAILABLE
(and be grateful there isn't)


I am nearly 40 years old and I've never had a cavity before.  Well my crooked dentist said I had one and I got it filled today.  Never having had to get a filling before, freezing is a relatively new concept to me.  On the way the to the dentist the Boy filled me with dread.  The needle is soooo big.  They stick it all the way down to your jaw bone.  And the Girl said things like "I hope you won't cry mommy."

Well, it was a relatively painless process.  Nothing hurt except my pride (I"ve NEVER had a cavity before, you know.)

The dentist told me I'd be frozen for about 3 hours.  After 1 1/2 hours my children were STARVING.  Dying of starvation, possibly.  We went to Crabby Joe's for lunch.  I figured a bowl of soup would be okay, but the Girl really, really wanted to share natchos, and the boy wouldn't split anything with her (except hairs.)  So, I figured I could just chew on the other side of my mouth.  My children promised me they would tell me if I was drooling or if I had spoogy stuff on my face. 

Part way through the natchos I said "my mouth feels funny inside, did I bite my lip?"  Boy looked and said "a little bit, but it's small like a cankor."  I kept eating.  A few minutes later I asked the Girl "is my lip okay, it feels funny with my tongue."  I curled down my lip and she said "yep, you've bit it, but it's not bad."

Now, had I been looking at her, and not the plate of natchos I might have seen a "look" pass between my peeps....

When we got back to the Jeep I looked in the mirror.  My lip was swollen.  Swollen like Popeye's, but with no pipe.  I looked inside.  An area the size of a quarter was chewed raw and was bloody.  Had that happened to one of the kids I would have ordered them to stop eating, found ice to put on the swelling, and cuddled them telling them it would get better soon.....  But no they let me go on, and on....

"Hey," I said, "I thought you said there was a small cankor.  That it wasn't too bad?  It's bad, people.  It's bad.  I have a GOITER on my lip.  I can 't feel it, but I can see it!"

The look passed between my peeps (like the one I missed earlier, I'm sure.)

Boy said, "you can't feel it can you?"

"No, because it's still frozen!"

Shrug of shoulders.

No mercy.  My peeps show no mercy.

Mercy me.