We’ve been there quite a bit lately; she has some crazy over-crowding going on and she has needed multiple extractions as a result. She is a trooper. A little nitrous oxide and she’s good to go.

I personally don’t like the process. I go in the exam room with her for support, but find it hard to watch them yank out the choppers. It makes me cringe. I was joking with the dentist about how I hated to see it all happen and that I could use a little nitrous myself, and he casually threw out that “Don’t you know that’s what your husband is for? You need to send him for the gory stuff”. Hmm. Well, in theory, that would really be nice. Except for the fact that I don’t exactly have a husband, and my ex-husband doesn’t live in the state. But thanks, Mr. Dentist, I’ll take that into consideration when the gory stuff comes up.

It happened again the next day. I took my son to get his haircut and his stylist and I were talking. She asked what my husband and I did for a living, and I responded about my job. She asked a few questions about it and then asked, “And your husband?” Maybe she was just sizing us up a bit, but I had to answer the question. I told her that I am actually not married, and her response was, “Oh, I’m so sorry!” Sorry for assuming I was married or sorry that I’m single? Either way, there’s absolutely nothing to be sorry about.

It’s funny how often that happens. I guess traditionally, if I have kids, it’s fair to assume that I have a husband that goes along with it. But is it? Don’t get me wrong. It really doesn’t bother me when someone makes that assumption, and frankly, I’m not really quick to correct him or her. But it does happen a lot, and I guess I wonder if it is fair to just assume that’s how it works? The face of “family” and all the elements that define what makes a family has changed so incredibly much in the last decade. The very definition of what is “traditional” is evolving to encompass so much more. And it’s lovely.

But I guess that evolution is kind of a wait-and-see. Until then I’ll keep answering the question. Hey doc, pass the nitrous.