One of the things I like most about being a parent is the oppotunity to be pleasantly surprised. My son pulled that off last week, and it felt really good--I felt very proud to be his father.
Last Friday, my son got his wisdom teeth out. All four of them were removed, two of them severely impacted (for the uninitiated, "impacted" means "sideways"). His upper teeth came out without incident; in fact, the oral surgeon was nice enough to clean most of the blood off before letting us keep them.* The bottom two, however, were extracted with the "shatter-them-into-a-thousand-pieces-and-vacuum-them-out" method.
Ouch.
What was to follow included three different medications (antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, and the ever popular Vicodin), a regimented schedule of ice pack use, soft/liquid nourishment, uncomfortable swelling, and very little talking. So, naturally, he had three friends over as soon as he got home, then hopped a plane to his mother's house for the four-day Veterans' Day weekend.
Thing is, he pulled it off. I thought he'd need nagging, coaching, coaxing, and yelling to keep up with his meds, use the ice pack (20 minutes on, 20 off, for at least the first day and a half), and be a grouch the whole time because he was hungry.** He was really good about everything, and needed no prompting from me. I was astonished, then impressed. He was even doing some of the things that I wasn't going to bother with. Sometimes he can be a real adult about these things, and that's something I don't see often enough, I guess, to keep in mind all the time; I hope that this level of maturity translates into everything in his life that's important.
I'll be honest: for a while now I've been worrying that my son might not be able to make it on his own when the time comes. This weekend gave me hope; I got a glimpse of just how capable he is when he needs to be. I guess I just have to be careful not to use it against him, figure out what I've been doing right, and do more of that.
In any event, I'm a pretty proud father this week.
*Anyone know how to make a voodoo necklace? We've got a couple of teeth here . . .
**Why did I think this? Getting him to feed his snake or clean his room usually takes an act of God and a court order, that's why.
Observations, rants, and plausible
deniability from a person who refuses
to be a prisoner of his own world.
deniability from a person who refuses
to be a prisoner of his own world.
The Village
I AM WRITING!
My Screenplay -- Draft Three
I'm currently reading:
On my Kindle 2
I'm listening to:
iTunes Radio
I'm driving:
The Honda FCX Clarity
