Tilak Mark

Over a week ago our family was enjoying watching Sarina in her fourth school play performance.

She was a narrator in Aladdin which meant she had a handful of singing solo lines and she was marvelous!

Anyway, the chairs were nice and cozy so when Charlie stood in front of me to talk we were really close.

In an unfortunately timed reach into my purse-on the floor-my poor little buddy also happened to bend forward at just the right time.

His little beaver tooth (I can say that because he inherited it from me...) perfectly collided with my forehead slicing right in.

Yes, I felt nauseous.

Yes it hurt like hell.

And yes I thought I was going to pass out.

But I couldn't show it.

His beautiful little face crumbled when he saw that he'd hurt me.

Truly, I think it might have hurt his heart more than my head hurt.

I smiled,

told him I was ok

then tried to bee-line it to the bathroom to get some tissue to stop the bleeding.

Of course I was right behind an old lady with a walker I could not dodge

no matter how many attempts I made.

Mark has laughed that my wound looks like a tilak mark.

Today, over a week after, I wrapped up in a scarf I love.

Charlie looked at me with a twinkle in his eyes,

"Now you REALLY look like an Indian lady", he said.

I have to admit, though I fall quite a bit short of their exotic beauty...

I can see where he's coming from.

What do you think?

Name Calling

The other day the boys were arguing over something.

What it was I don't recall, I have been tuning it out more and more.

Lately, unless there's blood I don't really intervene unless it turns REALLY ugly.

Anyway, I heard Carl call Charlie "Beaver teeth" in a super agitated but almost quiet way.

Perhaps I'm a bit sensitive to that particular name since I was once a beaver toothed little girl (with a sharp middle part that pointed right to it...)

I was so angry with Carl I stopped and asked, "What did you call him?"

He did look ashamed as he repeated his insult.

When I demanded that he go up to his room his brother instantly came to his defense.

"What?"  Charlie asked.  "It's true."  He said with a casual shrug of his shoulders.

Oh precious little guy.

He doesn't seem to care that his teeth are quite prominent at the moment.

So prominent that the dentist carefully phrased suggesting that we invest in mouth-guards for when he plays sports because those teeth are really "out there."  He said.  He thought we should be proactive in protecting them.

Thank God Charlie doesn't care.

And of course we'll get them all fixed up when the time is right.

Beaver teeth.

It hurt my heart but not my strong boy.

I didn't make Carl go to his room because his brother gave him a reprieve.  And because he looked genuinely sorry.

Brothers sometimes the meanest, sometimes the sweetest.

*and yes I have a few more posts to come when I have a few uninterrupted minutes:)