Marriage and Teeth

No, I'm not going to write about how my tooth brushing habits differ from my husband's. OK, maybe I will, now that I'm thinking about it. I brush and floss religiously and have lately started getting cavities. I hate it. Paul brushes less devoutly and flosses never. He never gets cavities, though he has had a root canal and isn't always minty fresh. Not that I am either, these days. As a teenager and younger adult I always carried toothpaste with me. I'd put a dab on my tongue every now and then to make sure that my breath was never offensive. Unfortunately for those around me, I grew out of this obsessive phase.

What I was really going to talk about is the longevity of both marriage and teeth. I used the phrase "permanently partnered" today and that got me thinking: not all of our "permanent" partnerships end up being so permanent. Then again, sometimes we lose "permanent" teeth too. And it seems to me that the root (heh heh) causes are pretty similar: painful trauma, extreme neglect, and untreated disease.

On a related note, I miss the days when I could distract myself with TV or a book while nursing Ellie instead of sitting quietly in a darkened room with an easily distracted toddler.