With our family weekend at an end, people began to make their way home. Justin stayed in Natchitoches, David and Codi headed back to Mississippi and Caitlin hopped on her plane back to D.C. Ryan was off an entire week for Mardi Gras so we would get to enjoy spending a little extra time with him. As he headed off to meet friends after the Mardi Gras parade, I returned home to relax...or so I thought!
It had only been that very morning at church when I had been explaining to some friends of mine that, "If you had MY boys as children, you would have definitely been a proponent of spanking." Oh, they laughed and then I said, "OK...How would you handle 3 little boys deciding to build a fire in the middle of the living room...on the carpet?!" YEP! NOW, you see what I'm talking about. And that little incident only skims the surface. Someone also recently asked me if I thought raising boys or girls was easier. DEFINE "easy"... I must say that although boys tend to traditionally get into MUCH more mischief than girls, it is the girls who are a LOT meaner. OK, mothers of daughters, don't go getting your feathers all ruffled; let me explain. While my boys were throwing punches, jumping off of roofs and setting small fires, my daughter was doing a totally different sort of battle; a battle of "cattiness"! And it is called this for a reason. With boys, after the punches are thrown, one can find them back to being best buddies; not so with girls. Once the claws come out...LOOK OUT! So, I say all of this to get to my point. At SOME POINT, one would think that perhaps these "mishaps" with the boys would not continue to happen. Parade day proved that this is apparently not so.
One would assume that after all of these years, the boys being involved in accidents would come to an end. However, Ryan brought me back to the clear reality that it may go on forever...As I was driving Caitlin to the airport and dreaming of returning home to hit the couch for a little R and R, Ryan called. I knew that he was going to meet up with friends at the Mardi Gras Parade and then go to another friend's house for food and drinks afterwards. Answering the phone he very calmly asked, "Do you think you could get the dentist on the phone?" Hmmm...one never knows what Ryan is thinking, so I asked, "Today? Why?" "Well, Mom, I cracked my front tooth." WHAT?! OH MY GOSH!!! He had left New Orleans for the week for a bit more calm atmosphere during the holiday and he had broken a tooth?! And a FRONT one at that?! As accidents go, my kids tends to have some real doozies. "OK, Ryan, HOW did you break your tooth?" Telling me it was no big deal and an "easy fix" (yea...you're just a first year dental student; what do you know?), he replayed what had happened. He was actually at the friend's house and they were grilling and hugging was going on...when an elbow accidentally hit him...at the exact time he put his drink to his mouth...thus, the chipped front tooth (ugh...). Finding a dentist in town...on a Sunday afternoon...during Mardi Gras weekend would be no easy task.
As soon as I entered the house, I grabbed the phone book and began dialing numbers. I had not seen the tooth yet, but all I could think of was those beautiful, white, brace straightened teeth...RUINED! As dollar signs ran through my mind, I KNEW that no matter what, this tooth HAD to be fixed; not only was it a front tooth that could be easily seen, but Ryan is a dental student...how would THAT look? The call to our dentist was futile; no answer, no answering machine. I kept running down the line of friends who were also dentists...no luck. Finally, I thought of one of his fellow classmates whose dad is also a dentist. Quickly calling Ryan, he had not thought of him either but rang his friend to see if perhaps his dad could fix the tooth. He wasn't really sure what his dad was doing...on a Sunday afternoon...on Mardi Gras weekend, but he would give him a call. His friend's dad indeed did call back and ended up fixing the broken tooth. WHEW! Another close call...
So, as Ryan walked in and showed me the before picture he had taken of the tooth and then flashed me his toothy grin to show off the repair work that had been done, I had to ask myself a question..."Will boys ALWAYS be boys?" One would think that I couldn't be shocked at ANY mishap my boys called me about. However, it is becoming perfectly clear now that "Boys WILL be boys"...FOREVER!
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Oh no! He'll have to pay back that later to someone when he get's that call on a Sunday.
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