Crowns and Croissants

When Aaron had his teeth cleaned a couple weeks ago, the dentist found a large crack in one of his back molars.  This explained the pain that Aaron had been having since biting down hard on some steak a few weeks prior to this discovery.  Dr. Baxter, our dentist, said that Aaron would need a crown.  Aaron has talked and talked about his broken tooth, his cracked tooth, his sore tooth – and also talked of his crown, wondering if it will be silver or gold, and just how the whole process will transpire. 

He’s also been curious about the dental hygienist there at his dentist’s office.  He must have been very observant…………..or as he would say, “I’m just very curious.”  She is oriental, so you can guess where I’m going with this if you’ve read my blog for any length of time.  The other night he was once again talking about his upcoming crown.  “Mom, you know that lady that works on my teeth?  She’s Korean, or Chinese, or Japanese!” 

At least he didn’t try to place her in Africa as he is so often prone to do.  He continued about his hygienist:  “Would you call that lady who cleaned my teeth a servant?  Is she a servant of Baxter?”

I assured Aaron that she was not a servant, but was a dental hygienist who worked for Dr. Baxter.  I was hoping that he would not ask her today about her servant status.  She was polite and smiling after Aaron’s prep work was over, so hopefully he wasn’t offensive in any way.  One good thing about dental visits is that Aaron has very little talking time there.

When the dentist was finished with Aaron’s work today, I heard him telling Aaron what an awesome job he did.  Thankfully, Aaron really does do very well with medical procedures.  Nothing has ever greatly bothered him………….not even needles.  Not even dental needles…….SHIVER!!  As Aaron rounded the corner to the waiting room, I immediately heard, “Mom!”  The staff there is so kind and understanding, and the receptionist just smiled.  Aaron continued, “Can we go to Pizza Hut for lunch?”

Now I had already told Aaron that lunch was questionable due to his numbness that was sure to come.  He was still hoping for a miracle.  I had to tell Aaron to hush as I made his next appointment and his Pizza Hut question kept being repeated.  The hygienist gave him a coupon for a free ice-cream cone, so the pizza question then became an ice-cream cone question.

We made our usual post-dental Wal-Mart visit.  I had my list ready and Aaron had his usual stops all planned:  Bathroom………Snack Aisle………..Video Aisle.  I looked up from housewares to see him lumbering toward me, balancing three canisters of his now favorite Multi-Grain  Sour Cream and Onion Pringles in his arms.  We put them in the cart and he was off again, only to return soon after with a DVD in his hand.  It’s a DVD that I’ve said no to in the past but Aaron is ever hopeful.  The answer was still no.  He heard the stern tone of my voice and knew that his Multi-Grain Sour Cream and Onion Pringles were in jeopardy if he responded incorrectly, so he was mellow about not buying the DVD.  He did try for a new keyboard…………..with another no from me…………..and a new desk chair…………..and another no………..and a travel neck pillow that he always wants………….with yet another no. 

But Aaron wasn’t finished.  He asked about the spaghetti I told him we were having for supper, wanting to know about bread.  Before I could answer, he asked if we could have some………….can you guess?  Croissants!!  I surprised him by saying yes, and then told him to go get his treasured Croissants while I picked up one more thing.  Soon I headed toward the deli breads, only to see Aaron once again lumbering toward me with – of course – THREE containers of Croissants.  He had planned his argument well, telling me that he could have some for breakfast, too!  He was so hopeful and was balancing the containers so carefully, that I caved and said yes.  Happy, happy Aaron!

He sat on the bench outside his favorite nail salon while I paid, with strict instructions from me to NOT stand in the door staring at the women getting their nails done.  I forgot to mention not clapping, and soon I heard that familiar, ear-splitting CLAP!!!  He was looking right at me, knowing that my head would shake no and my mouth would form a silent no.  He smiled his lopsided, numb-faced smile.  Good old Aaron! 

We both know exactly what to expect from each other, though sometimes there are surprises.  Aaron’s surprises today came in threes with his three Pringles and his three Croissants.  For me, it was the surprise of seeing Aaron with his three containers of Croissants.  I thought he would have figured out how to stack them and carry four or five, at least!