Teething

The dreaded eight letter word.  Forget four letter words..... For most moms the scariest word has eight letters.

Teething....

The fun process of watching your child cry as a mouthful of teeth push through their swollen little gums.  It's like wisdom teeth but in your baby and on and off for months.  Some mom struggle with teething because they can't stand the crying for that long.  It sets off a chain reaction for some women that ends up with them wanting to leave the house and not come back or hide in a corner of a sound proofed room, eating chocolate.

But handling crying appropriately is another post for another day.  Because teething is not just about crying.  Your poor baby suddenly can't sleep as well because his mouth hurts.  And he won't eat certain things because his gums hurt.  And if he swallows too much mucus from his now runny nose then there is a great risk of throw up resembling Mount Vesuvius coming out of his dear little mouth.  And add all that up and what do you get?  A helpless little baby who doesn't know how to handle all the pain and is very particular about who holds him and how long he is held and if he lets you put him down then how far you are allowed to be away from him.

Before we get too far into the negatives of the blessed time of life, let's not forget that this blog is about the magic times of mommy-hood.  And I strongly believe that there is a way to have most if not all of the times be magical.  So where does teething come into play?

Honestly, I don't get all stressed from an inability to handle side effects of teething.  I have never wanted to hide in the corner and eat chocolate.  Somehow I was blessed with the ability to hear crying without getting all stressed out and then to calm a crying child.  However, even though I can handle the side effects without much stress, I still don't love this time in my son's life.  And the reason is because it hurts my heart to see him in pain.  He handles it pretty good compared to what I hear from other moms, but it still makes me want to cry to see him in pain.

But there are positives.  Since I love my son and love being with him, it is a huge bonus to me that he has become even more of a momma's boy since all of this started.  True I don't get much more done around the house, but I do get more snuggles from the cutest little baby around.  And I count it as a positive that I am better developing my ability to sense what he wants.  Because when a baby is teething he becomes very particular about what he wants.  And I count my blessings that he could be worse.  He really is a good little boy.  He has just become my buddy even more.  And I love that!

So bring on the teeth!  And once they are all in and he is old enough we'll sit around and eat chocolate together!