Your telling of this story made my eyes wet with tears at Dr. Molly's response--her kindness, yes, and even more her understanding and wisdom. Thank you, Katie, for the many ways you bring us in and walk us through. Dr. Molly sounds like such a blessing to your family, and your writing passes the blessing along.
You don't have to carry this right now. I'll be thinking about the many things I chose to pick up and carry long before I need to a lot this week. Thanks for sharing Katie!
Having encountered many snakes on the farm, my first reaction when you said it didn't move was, "That snake is dead." And I got to the end of the story and am even more certain of it—that snake was/is dead. I'm glad that's a fear you don't have to carry today, friend.
"you don't need to carry this now" is something I will recite to myself over and over with all the worries about my special boy's future. Thank you Katie.
“He for sure feared for his mouth.” -- I feel this Cannon. Me too, bud. 🙋🏻♀️ and what a wise refrain: “I don’t need to carry this.” What a reminder for those of us (oh hi, it’s me again) who tend to create burdens just by carrying worries prematurely.
As a dentist, I totally agree with the conversation you and Dr. Molly had! So happy to hear Cannon let her take a look and no major problems were found. You’re doing a great job. Rooting for you and your family!
This is such a powerful reminder. I’m also actively working on not dwelling on issues that may never come to fruition. I’m celebrating our victories big and small. Thanks for sharing this story.
Thank you for writing this, Katie. It's a good reminder to this anxious mama about to send her oldest baby to public school for the first time that not everything is a "snake" & we can cross that bridge when we get there. I too get reaallllyyyy far ahead of myself and I needed to read this today 💛
This was more helpful than you can imagine. I have a 13 year old boy with autism and we have yet to complete x-rays and maybe only 75% of a full cleaning. I have to break up cleanings over 3-4 visits at a time where we work on sections of his mouth and in the time leading up to the visit we touch and talk about that specific section. It’s an arduous and timely process that takes soooo much mental and emotional energy it would be a full time job but for the fact I do have a full time job and two other kids (one with autism as well) to care for. So thank you for putting this in perspective! There aren’t enough ways to say thank you (and to your dentists as well!) for taking one thing off the list of worries!!
I hope by now you know that when I say I cried so much and had to take some time before I could comment on how much I loved this magical piece of writing, I mean it in the best way possible. Katie, your words make me feel seen to my very core and known in the depths of heart of hearts. I have a (very old) reminder on my fridge to make dentist appointments. I ignore, day after day. The office texts me and I ignore. Taking two 9 year olds with special needs plus a toddler to the dentist is not high on my priority list. I carry so many worries, burdens, fears, and what-ifs around just in every day life, let alone dentist visits. So, I ignore and avoid. Thank you, again, for you for sharing your beautiful and magical gift of story telling. Thank you for reminding me that I do not have to carry all of these fears today. I will make appointments soon and I will bring your reminders and encouragement with me.
“You don’t need to carry this.” So powerful. I felt the same way after reassurance from my pediatrician that I didn’t need to stress about my 4 year old son’s drooling or that my stubborn 2.5 year old daughter will not go near a potty. I was so worried and he kindly looked me in the eyes and told me, “please don’t spend another moment worrying about these. It’s not worth you parenting thoughts.”
On snakes and crowded teeth
Your telling of this story made my eyes wet with tears at Dr. Molly's response--her kindness, yes, and even more her understanding and wisdom. Thank you, Katie, for the many ways you bring us in and walk us through. Dr. Molly sounds like such a blessing to your family, and your writing passes the blessing along.
You don't have to carry this right now. I'll be thinking about the many things I chose to pick up and carry long before I need to a lot this week. Thanks for sharing Katie!
Having encountered many snakes on the farm, my first reaction when you said it didn't move was, "That snake is dead." And I got to the end of the story and am even more certain of it—that snake was/is dead. I'm glad that's a fear you don't have to carry today, friend.
"you don't need to carry this now" is something I will recite to myself over and over with all the worries about my special boy's future. Thank you Katie.
“He for sure feared for his mouth.” -- I feel this Cannon. Me too, bud. 🙋🏻♀️ and what a wise refrain: “I don’t need to carry this.” What a reminder for those of us (oh hi, it’s me again) who tend to create burdens just by carrying worries prematurely.
As a dentist, I totally agree with the conversation you and Dr. Molly had! So happy to hear Cannon let her take a look and no major problems were found. You’re doing a great job. Rooting for you and your family!
This dentist is a hero! We need more people like this in our lives! So thankful you have her!
Beautiful. Dentist sounds awesome. And love the phrase you don't have to carry it for now
This is such a powerful reminder. I’m also actively working on not dwelling on issues that may never come to fruition. I’m celebrating our victories big and small. Thanks for sharing this story.
Thank you for writing this, Katie. It's a good reminder to this anxious mama about to send her oldest baby to public school for the first time that not everything is a "snake" & we can cross that bridge when we get there. I too get reaallllyyyy far ahead of myself and I needed to read this today 💛
This was more helpful than you can imagine. I have a 13 year old boy with autism and we have yet to complete x-rays and maybe only 75% of a full cleaning. I have to break up cleanings over 3-4 visits at a time where we work on sections of his mouth and in the time leading up to the visit we touch and talk about that specific section. It’s an arduous and timely process that takes soooo much mental and emotional energy it would be a full time job but for the fact I do have a full time job and two other kids (one with autism as well) to care for. So thank you for putting this in perspective! There aren’t enough ways to say thank you (and to your dentists as well!) for taking one thing off the list of worries!!
I hope by now you know that when I say I cried so much and had to take some time before I could comment on how much I loved this magical piece of writing, I mean it in the best way possible. Katie, your words make me feel seen to my very core and known in the depths of heart of hearts. I have a (very old) reminder on my fridge to make dentist appointments. I ignore, day after day. The office texts me and I ignore. Taking two 9 year olds with special needs plus a toddler to the dentist is not high on my priority list. I carry so many worries, burdens, fears, and what-ifs around just in every day life, let alone dentist visits. So, I ignore and avoid. Thank you, again, for you for sharing your beautiful and magical gift of story telling. Thank you for reminding me that I do not have to carry all of these fears today. I will make appointments soon and I will bring your reminders and encouragement with me.
I want to click "like" on this a thousand times.
“You don’t need to carry this.” So powerful. I felt the same way after reassurance from my pediatrician that I didn’t need to stress about my 4 year old son’s drooling or that my stubborn 2.5 year old daughter will not go near a potty. I was so worried and he kindly looked me in the eyes and told me, “please don’t spend another moment worrying about these. It’s not worth you parenting thoughts.”
Katie, all I want to say today is "you are doing a great job and I admire you". Thank you for sharing your stories with the world.