The Tooth Chipmunk

Elizabeth got her 4 wisdom teeth taken out yesterday.  I have never had any dental work done except for cleaning, so I really don't know what she feels like, and I can't relate to what she's going through, but going by what she says, she was in a lot of pain yesterday, but today she feels much better.

But today she looks like a chipmunk.

And it is hilarious.

I guess that as her mom, I should not laugh at her.  And I tried not to.  I really did.  And I almost made it through the whole day without totally bursting out in fits of giggles, but then I cracked.

What happened was that for most of the day, I was doing my regular running around of kids to classes, trips to the hospital and running errands, so I was able to control myself by just not being around much, but by the end of the day, after the kids had gone to bed and we were just sitting around watching a movie, I found that I could barely contain myself.

It helped that the movie was a pretty intense one that had a few tear jerker scenes in it, but then, in the end, Elizabeth got up from her seat on the floor, and I got a glimpse of her from the side, and I seriously just couldn't take it anymore.

If I'd been drinking milk at the time, it would have shot out my nose.

Yes, it was one of those.  I was guffawing uncontrollably.

I made the cat run away and hide.

I made Jimmy tell me to 'Be quiet or you'll wake the babies!'

I threw myself into a coughing fit that almost made me lose my dinner.

And I felt horrible about laughing at her, but I just couldn't stop.  

And really, Elizabeth herself admitted that she looks pretty silly and she did join in a bit, and Jimmy's no saint in this one, either, so it's not like I was by myself in this.

But what I realized was that I had not laughed like that in ages.  I mean really belly laughed.  You know, belted it out and let 'er rip.

And oh, it was so therapeutic!

I have dealt with anger that has cracked and broken me and tears that have drained and washed me but this?  This was the laughter that filled and patched me.

And so I must say,

Thank you, Elizabeth.  Thank you for being you and letting me laugh at the situation.  You are an amazing and beautiful girl, and you will return to your full beauty in just a few more days.  I appreciate you being willing to let me snicker at your plight because it felt oh, so very good in so many ways not the least of which was that I knew that I could  giggle at you without offending you because you are strong and smart and firm in your beliefs of who and what you are

and that we love you

chipmunk cheeks and all.