Vanity, Thy Name is Mommy

Accidents happen. Of course they do. As a new mother, I realize that I have hundreds of accidents ahead of me. Levi will experience bumps and bruises, cuts and sores. Often I'll be there to kiss the owwies, but sometimes I won't be. And that's okay. I'm ready for it.

I wasn't ready for this:

Yes, those are two very chipped front teeth. My FOURTEEN MONTH OLD baby's teeth! Excuse me while I hyperventilate...

Okay, I'm back. Here's how it went down. My husband and I had the day off work for Passover, but we decided to send Levi to daycare so we could catch up on sleep and relax. A friend stopped by in the afternoon to hang out with my husband and I went out for some me time. When I got home, I was surprised to see Levi. "You decided to pick him up early?" "Well...not exactly..."  Turns out that daycare had called.  My husband doesn't use the phone during chag (a category of Jewish holiday similar to Shabbat, when observant Jews don't work, use electricity and or do a bunch of other stuff) so he didn't answer the phone, but thankfully, he noticed the daycare name on the call display. Figuring they would only call if something was wrong, he walked over where he found some very upset daycare ladies. Levi, on the other hand, was happily eating yogurt. Turns out he was pushing a fire truck and it got too far ahead of him, leading to him falling he  face first on the floor and chipping two teeth. His caregivers were more upset than he was and who can blame them? It must be extremely stressful for them when this type of thing happens, not knowing how the parents will react and all. Of course, we don't blame them at all. Yes, there was some blood and tears, but hugs and snuggles were all it took before Levi was back to happy.

Me? Not so much. My baby is gorgeous. I know all moms think their kids are beautiful. I'm no different. I just can't wrap my head around the fact that my stunning little boy is going to have chips in his two front teeth for the next six or seven YEARS until they fall out. I feel like they are the first thing that everyone will see when they look at him and this just bothers me to no end. I know it's totally superficial and vain and he's still adorable and yet...

Of course, I'll be making an appointment with a pediatric dentist to make sure there's no damage I can't see and to ask about our options. At the very least I think the left tooth needs to be filed down a bit because those little points are sharp. It's ridiculous, but part of me hopes that this can be fixed somehow. Even though I know it's unlikely. I've seen and read about other little kids who chip their teeth and since they are baby teeth, they are just left alone. You've seen photos of Dooce's daughter Marlo right?

 
I know in the grand scheme of things my baby is fine and still as adorable as ever. People won't see the chips and think I'm a bad mom. But I still would do anything to undo today's accident.