That Darn Tooth

One of my least favorite Mom jobs is pulling teeth. Kristen's teeth are especially challenging. She and I tried all morning to get her latest tooth pulled out with no luck, though I succeeded in breaking some roots to make it wigglier. It was hurting her so much that she just wanted it out. I finally sent her out the door to school with the tooth still intact. She didn't get past the edge of our property when she looked back at me, "Mom, I'm just not ready to do this," as she had tears streaming down her cheeks. The empathetic-mom side of me kicked in and I told her to come home. I opened up the garage door and had her hop in the car. At least I could try to help her be calm by the time she arrived at school. One last shot, "Do you want me to try and pull it one more time before we get to school?" She said yes.  We pulled over on the main street into the school and I had her sit on the console by the driver's seat and pulled. On the second pull, that darn tooth let loose. "Is it out?!?!" "Yes." And I quickly stuffed kleenex into her mouth. We sat in the drop-off lane a bit to let the bleeding stop as we inched forward . Crazy. I sent her in to school with a wad of kleenex clenched between her teeth. At least the tooth was out.