Perfect. Just perfect.

Dammit.

Tanner has cavities - two of them. And they're big. Upon discovering these two little money pits, I nearly threw up. November and December are the two most stressful months of the entire year - Tanner's birthday and Christmas back-to-back. I always swear that I'm going to plan ahead and save up, or get gifts for him in less strapped months, but there really is no such thing as a "less strapped" month. Especially now, thanks to the schmucks at the YMCA who stripped my scholarship because I'm too rich. Right. Thanks for making my life a real picnic, you jerks.

I'm not sure there's anything that gives me more stress than the dentist. We do have dental insurance now, but it never covers everything. I never know how much I'm going to get hit for. This time, I'm sure it will be brutal. I mean, those suckers are HUGE. Of course, it couldn't happen in May or June when I might actually have some money to throw towards my dentist's luxury car or vacation home. It happens now, when I don't have jack squat to spare.

I don't get it. Tanner brushes twice a day every day. He is fanatical about it, because he hated the last filling experience he had. He was nearly hysterical when he pointed out the cavities to me. That's right - he's the one who saw them first, because he inspects his teeth on a regular basis.

I don't make him floss. Maybe that's my fatal error. Maybe he just has crappy teeth - I don't know. All I know is that when I think of making a dental appointment, I break into a cold sweat.

And there's something else. I don't want my kid to have a mouth full of metal. It's embarrassing. He's already got one silver tooth. I bet when we're done with this round, he'll have two more. People are going to look at him and think I feed my kid candy and pop and neglect his oral health. That's so not true. He almost never has pop or even juice. I'm careful and attentive to his teeth, and so is he. This is not fair.

Dammit.