If We Had Only Recorded The Whole Episode

Well, we have set a new all-time high for drama at the Hurt home. Amanda has had a loose tooth (she has lost one already) for a while and she got it real loose last night. She worked on it after school and then after dinner before homework. We started homework a little late trying to give her time to get the tooth out. After homework, it was so loose I knew she would get it pulled. We were late starting her bath because she was working on the tooth. I thought she was being dramatic then, but there was more to come.

Amanda went to school today with the loose tooth and I knew she would pull it at school for the attention she would get. Brooke and I even stopped by during her lunch time to see if she had lost it. Apparently she now wanted it to "fall out on it's own." When she came home, she thought of little else other than the tooth, but she did not want to pull it. When Brooke and I offered to pull it she would just about go crazy. You would have thought we were asking her if she wanted to be buried alive in a giant fire ant mound! Finally I told her she would have to pull the tooth, let me pull it or miss out on McDonald's with the bus kids tonight (because I did not want to go through the whole "my tooth hurts" scene with her at McDonald's with all the Jr. High students there). This seemed to have hit an emotional chord with Amanda as she instantly broke out crying. I explained to her that she was not in trouble and was not being punished, but I just was not going to go through this scene in public. Then she cried some more because she wanted to go to McDonald's. I told her it was as simple as pulling her tooth. Then she cried because that would hurt.

She ended up making such a big scene I dragged her home. I was prepared to do whatever it took to get that tooth out. Her mother, equally frustrated but apparently fearing what I might do, followed me home. We told Amanda to pull her tooth or we would. She "tried" but could not get it. We told her to hold my hand and Brooke would pull it. This is where the Oscar award winning acting began! Amanda's lip began to tremble, she cried, she hyper-ventilated. I remember thinking, "if she passes out, at least we can get the tooth out". Amanda would not pull the tooth and she fought Brooke when she tried. I finally had to tell her I would pin her down on the floor and pull it if she did not let Brooke do it. She fought once more and I had her laid out on the floor when she begged to let Brooke do it. Finally she grabbed my hands and screamed bloody murder while Brooke pulled it out. There was no yanking, tugging, twisting or pulling necessary...it simply came right out. After what she figured was enough of an emotional reaction to this "trauma", Amanda was laughing and ready to head back over to the church to show everybody her "triumph". If we had only recorded the whole episode, we could have sent it in to America's Funniest Home Videos, won their grand prize and then sent it to Hollywood where Amanda would surely have made it big time...if nothing else they could have used her screaming for a horror movie!

- Rob