There's a DDS-in-Training in Our House #SOL20

Isabelle arrived early for Mommy Home School today. She was enthusiastic about using the L’Escapadou’s Cursive Writing Wizard. It was 20 minutes ‘til 8 a.m. and I was still in my pajamas. My hair wasn’t done and I didn’t have any makeup on. (Listen, I knew I had to be on Zoom call later in the day so I needed to put my face on!) I figured it would be fine for Isabelle to practice more while I pulled myself together. By 8:00 a.m., I was ready for our day to begin. 
I noticed Isabelle putting her hand near the outside of her jawline somewhere in the middle of chapter eight of Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. “Remove your hands from your face,” I reminded. (Pandemic rules!) About a half-hour later, when we were creating learning lists in our writer’s notebooks, I discovered her hand in her mouth. “Why are you touching your face?” I asked.
“I have a loose tooth,” she replied.
“Could you at least wiggle it with a tissue?” I asked.
Isabelle removed her hand from her mouth thereby avoiding an argument about COVID-19 hygiene.
I gave Isabelle a body break around 10 since I got a call from one of my dearest friends that I had been anticipating for a couple of weeks. (My friend’s grandmother passed away of old age, not of COVID-19.) It was the only reason to interrupt academics. 
During the body break, which was Go Noodle on my bedroom’s television, Isabelle did three fast videos followed by a relaxation video that melted her body down to the floor. The next video came on and Isabelle didn’t get up. After trying to compel her to get off the floor and jump, I told her, “If you don’t get up and move, then I will turn off the television.”
No response.
So I turned off the TV. 
Still no response. Now that wasn’t like her.
“Isabelle,” I called. “Where are you? Why aren’t you answering me?”
That’s when Isabelle walked out of the bathroom with a blood-soaked tissue. 
“I lost my tooth,” she said.
“When did you walk to the bathroom?” I was completely shocked she wasn’t meditating on the floor.
She didn’t answer. I didn’t press because there was a LOT of blood. I scrambled to my foot, grabbed my crutches, and rushed into the bathroom with Isabelle in tow. I hobbled towards the linen closet, opened the door, and retrieved a box of gauze pads. I opened one up and gave it to her.
“Press hard for two minutes; don’t let go.”
She handed me the tissue with one hand and took the gauze with the other. 
“Oh, yuck! You could throw this in the garbage can.”
“My tooth’s in there!” she replied through the gauze.
“Where?” I asked.
“In the corner,” she said.
I unwrapped the blood-covered tooth, which still had a semi-formed root on it, threw away the tissue, washed the tooth off in the sink, and then washed my hands.
“It looks clean,” I said. “You’ll probably get an extra dollar from the Tooth Fairy for that one.”
“Last time I got three dollars,” she replied.
“That’s because the Tooth Fairy didn’t remember to come the night you lost your tooth. So you got a second dollar for a clean tooth and a third dollar for a late fee.”
“Oh, yeah. I forgot about that.”
Note to self: Text Marc and remind him to play Tooth Fairy tonight. (This is the second tooth Isabelle has pulled out since the Governor canceled school on 3/13. I don’t want her to think the Tooth Fairy is practicing social distancing if she doesn’t show up again.)
After two minutes, there was still gushing blood so I exchanged the bloody gauze for a fresh one. I showed Isabelle how to press down harder. Thankfully, that worked and the bleeding stopped after three more minutes. Afterwards, Isabelle scrubbed her hands with soap TWICE. (Yes, I did yet another front-back-and-in-between hand washing lesson.) The two of us went back to work for another hour. 
As we worked together, I thought about how much I am capable of. I can handle reading, writing, math, spelling, cursive, typing, social studies, and even some science. But you know what part of Mommy Home School is my least favorite? Playing nurse! 

That’s a tooth that was NOT ready to come out!

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