Injuries are Hereditary in Our Family

Accidents in our family seem to be hereditary.

A couple of weeks ago, while I was in Utah visiting my new baby niece, I got a text from Nels,

"Hazel needs stitches. Should I take her to the ER?"

Nice.

Apparently while she and Lilie were supposed to be sleeping, they were actually "flying" off Lilie's bed. I imagine they must have been having some sort of contest. The funny thing about that is I imagine it would have been hard to tell who was winning in the dark. Also difficult to gauge where the toy box is located - as that is what Hazel smashed her face into. :)

Nels emailed me this picture. As soon as I pulled it up on the computer, my mom said, "She'll have a scar in the exact same place you do." -- As a child I took a nose-dive off the kitchen table and had to get stitches in the same spot.

I'm not sure who the blood and stitching must have been more traumatic for, Nels or Hazel. Nels just about passed out when I needed stitches when we were newlyweds and "demonstrates proper breathing technique" every time I have to get blood drawn when I'm pregnant. :)

I talked to Hazel on the phone while they were en route to the doctor. She was missing her mama and pretty upset about the whole thing, but she was still very brave. - Plus, Lilie offered great moral support, since she's a pro at all sorts of injuries that either do - or should - require stitching. Hazel ended up with four small stitches and a yellow teddy bear.

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And now I will tell you a story about how my family seems to be determined to knock their teeth right out of their heads. My maternal grandmother damaged her front teeth - I'm not positive as to the extent, but I know she did. I have at least one cousin and an aunt who have also damaged their front teeth. As a child, my mother broke off a chunk of her front teeth while climbing up a slide. When my brother was about ten, he ground off the majority of his front teeth on a sidewalk when the front tire of his bike came off whilst attempting a jump. A few years ago, my little sister, while impressing her date with her incredible ballet skills, broke off her front teeth on my parents' new hardwood floor.

Last but not least, when I was about seven years old, my cousins and I were playing dress up in my grandmother's basement. While walking up the cement stairs in a dress that was too long for me, I tripped and bent my brand new permanent teeth completely backwards into my mouth. Amazingly, they didn't break - as the roots must not have been fully formed yet - and my mom was able to pull them back straight. They turned black for a couple days, but as they healed, they returned to their normal white color. They've been perfect ever since. In fact, I've been asked by every dentist I've ever been to whether I had braces as a child, because my teeth are so pretty. :) Hooray for me. :)

A few years ago, when Genny had so gracefully met up with my parents' hardwood, I was laughing about it to a friend of mine. I told her about our long family history of knocking our front teeth out and she had suggested that maybe we just have weak teeth. LOL!! I informed her that not too many teeth can hold up to hereditary clumsiness combined with sidewalks, hardwood floors, cement stairs, metal slides and the like. :)

Well, I've always believed that I was the lucky one. My teeth had fixed themselves! -- However, at my last dental appointment, my dentist asked me if I'd ever had any problems with my front teeth. Apparently, it took about 20 years, but bending my teeth backwards did actually damage one of my teeth. As a result, I had the fabulous experience of my first (and hopefully only!) root canal last week. Lucky me!

I got home and went to kiss Nels goodbye as he left for work, only to realize that not only does Novocain deaden the paid, it also deadens you muscles. -- Muscles needed for kissing. :)

PUCKER UP!!!