The Economist

The
Jack is 4 weeks from entering the job market and has been BURIED in his dissertation - Eating, sleeping and breathing nothing but economic analysis (To put things in perspective, he hasn’t watched a single football game since mid-September).

I had to keep this in mind when we had the following conversation this week -

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Me: The tooth I had the root canal on is killing me. I tried Tylenol but it does nothing. I may as well be swallowing Skittles.

Jack: Are you sure you can’t take Motrin when you're pregnant?

Me: I looked it up online. Everything I read said that Motrin is most dangerous during the last trimester, and that it can cause birth defects.

(thinks about it)

Jack: What kind of birth defects?

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What KIND of birth defects?

Huh.

Well, now that you mention it, I'm not sure. Call me “paranoid,” but the mere suggestion of birth defects had been enough to send me searching for Plan B.

But I'm no economist.

Apparently, when you spend 12 hours a day analyzing risks and rewards, there begins to exist the possibility that the cost of certain BIRTH DEFECTS could be outweighed by the benefit of temporarily alleviating a toothache.

I have to admit. It sort of got me thinking.

Well, let's see...I refuse to jeopardize the child's vital organs (that’s just the kind of mother I am). And, of course, he'll need all necessary athletic appendages - pitching arm, rotating ankles, opposable thumbs for gripping footballs, etc. That's a given.

But other than that…

You really only need one kidney, right? I have no clue what gall bladders do, but I hear about their removal often enough to consider them “optional.” And what about toes? Ten toes would be ideal, certainly, but - when pain is shooting through your gums and the simple act of eating something cold makes you feel like an interrogation subject on 24 - Suddenly a full set of toes doesn’t seem all that important.

It gave me something to think about. At the very least, it provided me a few moments distraction from my pain. In the end, though, nothing was worth it. I suffered through with Tylenol Skittles and ice packs.

That, and the best medicine of all – A break when Jack was able to sneak away from his office long enough to take the girls to the park, where he took these photographs. Until his dissertation has been filed, they'll be a great way for him to remember what they look like.
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