My Twice Baked Potato

When you are a special needs parent, sometimes you  focus all of your energy on getting through the daily grind and you postpone other things.

Today, I went to the dentist and I was surprised to hear that it had been two years. Two years!

Looking back, it makes sense.  I went to half-time last year and I was caring for my son in the afternoon.  I felt bad taking a sub day with my kindergarteners.  It is probably just me, giving myself too much credit but I felt as though they needed me more than students at other grades.  I made and cancelled appointments because of work, child care, or fear of the your-not-flossing-enough-lecture.

But two years?!

I sat down in the chair this morning and the very sweet dental hygienist asked how things were going.  She really shouldn’t have.  I know what the socially acceptable response is, but I went in a different direction.

I actually opened my mouth and spilled my guts.  All of it.

Before I knew it, I was crying and over sharing about my son and the long battle with his school.  I had gone through four tissues before the hygienist even started battling the tartar.  Thinking about it now, this appointment was important and sharing about the process that brought us to homeschooling was like scraping away all that ugly tartar.

She listened and hugged me.  She told me that my family would be in her thoughts and prayers.  Others came in and listened to my horror story and shared their own despicable tales of unjust.  Clearly, I am not alone.

After almost two hours, it was all gone.  The plaque and the pain.

I don’t know why this particular day, this particular moment, I felt more vulnerable. I will tell you that it helped to share.

Do you ever let it out?  I mean REALLY let it all out at the most surprising times?

By the way, trust me when I say that you don’t want to wait two years to see the dentist!