Tooth Joo!

For once, I was actually able to catch a glimpse into my child's mouth a few days ago. Usually, an impossible task. But through tickling and holding him upside down, I was able to spy the cause of his crazy mood swings.

Molars. Four of them. Plus a latecomer in the front. FIVE TOTAL. His poor little mouth is a red, swollen, utterly painful looking place.

I could look at this two ways -

One, in a positive fashion ... All at once! Good, this will all end fairly soon (please GOD let it end soon).

Or, the negative way - Oh. My. God. Will. This. Child. Stop. Whining. And. Drooling. And. Waking. Up. EVERY. TWO. HOURS.

If you know me at all, or have read for a while, I'm sure you can guess which way I'm swinging. That would be negative. I'm a pessimist.

Actually, I refer to myself as a realist. Thank you very much.

Now that I have confirmation of the impending eruption of teeth, I'm feeling pretty fast and loose with the Infant Tylenol and Motrin. Or as we have christened such tinctures, tooth juice. You know it's bad when your 15 month old starts gleefully chanting "Tooth Joo! Tooth Joo!" when he spies the little bottle.

No, I'm not one of those mothers who breaks out the Benedryl to quiet my kid down.* In fact, I lean toward not medicating. Myself, I hardly ever even pop an Advil. I like to wallow in my pain. But dude, if you saw the carnage going on in my child's mouth, you'd be starting a Baby Tylenol IV too!

So, we're off to Costco to stock up on Tooth Juice. Maybe some Mommy Juice too (a.k.a. Pinot Grigio).

*This was suggested by one of my relatives at G's birthday party when he was acting a little less than perfect. You should have seen the look on her daughter-in-law's face (said daughter-in-law has a child three months younger than G).