As a mom, life is full of more daily tasks than I can even begin to list. {Although if I ever did take the time to list them all out, I would probably feel a lot more accomplished at the end of each day than I currently do!} Anyway, each day brings a lot of fun! Playdates. School parties. Dance class. Spontaneous trips to Sonic. Sidewalk chalk. Bubbles inside. The list goes on. And then there are also those certain “tasks” that aren’t so appealing. Unloading the dishwasher ALL the time. Scrubbing the mega soap scum ring on the bath tub because one of your children will happily spend two hours in the tub {great entertainment} so long as you give her a bar of soap and let her lather to her heart’s content. Dentist appointments. The list goes on.
{I was playing around with this one and did a super old school vintage number on it!! Definitely not for everything but kinda fun for this one anyway!}
And that is precisely where we found ourselves this morning – at the dentist. Huntler here…he was a rock star. I would be shocked if he ever acted differently. His very first trip {at three} he refused to open his mouth and cooperate, but ever since then, he has been fine. He has even had cavities filled and remains unphased. Today was no different. That’s the good news. The not so good news…he has FOUR cavities and has to go back in next week for fillings. Blah. It is obviously our fault – he is only five after all. He can’t be expected to brush and floss his teeth all on his own! And he isn’t…this is just one area where we are super lax. However, once she told me that it is going to cost us $262.00 when I haul him back in next week, I vowed then and there to become a better teeth brusher and flosser!
I don’t dread taking Huntler in. I don’t mind it at all in fact. But Gentry on the other hand? There are no words to describe her other than that screaming and hysterical child that you are always so thankful isn’t yours. But it just so happens – she IS mine.
Her first appointment was six months ago. She had just turned three. Cried, screamed, carried on, refused to cooperate. Okay. That’s fine. Huntler didn’t fair so well at three either. I was hoping this trip would be better. However, two weeks ago when I had my six month cleaning and she about had a complete breakdown and Chris had to stay home with her, I knew things weren’t looking up. We can’t even drive by the dentist office without her having an anxiety attack.
For the past week I have been talking it up. YAY! “If you are good and let the dentist look at your teeth you get to pick out a prize.” And, “If you cooperate you can have candy when you’re done.” I tried it all. Not one bit of enthusiasm. She would rather do without the prize and the candy…which is saying a lot for her! As we would talk about the appointment she would say, “But I don’t have to go. I have dance, right?” She was bound and determined she was getting out of it! Even last night Chris was talking to her and told her that he was going in a couple of weeks and she said, “Okay. I’ll go in a couple of weeks when I’m bigger. Right?” The girl is no slouch!
So we pull up this morning after dance. Instant panic attack on her part. Tears are flowing and she is freaking out on me. I have to carry her in where she then sits on my lap the entire time we are waiting refusing to make eye contact or respond to anyone. Once we get back and Huntler is in the chair having his teeth cleaned, she finally loosens up a bit. She is actually even friendly to the hygienist. And then Huntler is done and she is up. Sheer terror. Feeling slightly defeated because I really wanted pics of her too, I opt to let her sit on my lap. Still a no go. Screaming. Crying. Shaking. Shoving my shirt in her mouth so there is no room for anything else. Yep…that is what happened. We only tried forcing her for a minute and when she was obviously not going to relax, we gave up and I was sent on my happy little way with a referral to a pediatric dentist. Called the pediatric dentist – they don’t accept our insurance. So here I am back at square one.
I have NO clue where her fear comes from. She has only been the one other time with Huntler and he was fine. No fits. No drama. He wasn’t scared or panicked. I have NO clue why she is so terrified. Bless her heart though…when I was holding her and she was in hysterics, her heart was beating so hard and so fast!
Just another day in the life! I am thinking next time Daddy needs to take care of this task!!
Filed under
my-lil-lollies,
by Bethany
Cute picture of your brave boy!
I can completely relate to this post. Kamree acted the same exact way and I had to hold her down with my arms and legs for a cleaning. She ended up having one cavity and we were referred to a pediatric dentist who was fabulous! I did make the hubs take her to the filling appointment. I hope you can find a pediatric dentist who accepts your insurance.
We see a pediatric dentist and that has made all the difference in the world! Hopefully time will work in Gentry’s favor!
Hi there – I found your blog a couple months back and first have to say that you are awesome. I absolutely adore your mad party skills and your kids are just so darn cute. I’ve wanted to comment before but wasn’t really sure what to say to a complete stranger until now. I went through the same fears with my daughter who is 3 1/2 and the funny thing is that my sister is our dentist. After 2 completely failed attempts to sit in the dentists chair, we started to play dentist at home. I would have her lay down and I would brush her teeth and then I would lay down and she would do mine. On the next trip to the dentist she was much more prepared and laid on my lap for her cleaning. After much thought, I think the scary part is laying down in the chair under the big spot light. Good luck!
I could have almost wrote this post. I tried taking Mya to the dentist twice when she was 3 and there was no way she was having it. I tried everything possible. My dentist told me not to worry about it, take extra care when brushing with her at home and we would try again. So she turned 4 and we went for her appt. Still had a slight freak out, but atleast got her to sit on my lap in the chair and she sort of opened her mouth so that they could clean her teeth. Wasn’t probably the best cleaning she could have gotten but at least it was a start! We were suppose to have her appt yesterday for her 6 month cleaning but had to cancel due to an ice storm. This time she threw a fit because she WANTED to go to the dentist! You just never know about kids….. : -)