The Dental Visit

Yesterday was the big day -- Beernut's first trip to the dentist. It occured to me, about 3/4 through the visit, that a Supermommy would have brought the digital camera to document the event. I, on the other hand, am hoping to remember to bring the camera in 6 mos. and just restage it b/c I forgot the camera. I forgot "Wormie" (the lovie) and I also forgot to take a little something to ease my pain! No, I am not one of those mommies who has a physical reaction to her little one's pain. It is just that I had my cleaning first and felt a bit inhibited screaming my head off in front of the aforementioned child!

My appointment was first and as I mentioned in the last posting, I thought that having Beernut see what occurs during a visit would ease his anxiety. An interesting idea in theory...except he's four years old and was far more interested in using the window seat as a stage for his show. At least that kept him occupied while I was undergoing an only slightly excrutiating cleaning.

Then it was his turn...first, the Xrays. The first tech actually attempted to take a full mouth's worth of pix. That didn't go so well since Beernut just couldn't hold the film in his tiny mouth. Another (and more experienced) tech came in and was able to take just two pix that captured all his teeth. That really calmed him down.

Dr. T then came in to do the exam and cleaning. Beernut actually held up pretty well, though his giggling did make things a bit more difficult. Since the dental chair had gravity on its side, all the sand in B's shoes fell out! (That was a little concerning to Dr. T until I explained that B has a knack for attracting whatever sand happens to be in the sandbox at school.) No problem! Dr. T had showed B how his air blower works and B proceeded to use it to clean up all the sand. Once the dentist was finished ("no active decay"), it was time for the polishing. Well, they were a little backed up and we had to hang around for about 35 minutes...at which point I thought Beernut was going to explode. Luckily the polishing didn't take very long and he was able to choose the flavour -- bubblegum.

When his teacher inquired about the trip to the dentist, Beernut replied "great!" So all-in-all, a positive experience.

I feel as though I have passed some sort of mommy test. Going to the dentist isn't some major accomplishment and yet taking my son for his exam and cleaning felt so mommy-ish. And I'm never really certain how I measure up in the mommy area.

I grew up with a really traditional mom who did all the mom things. Well, most of them. She didn't do breakfast, but that's because she was still asleep. My parents had the perfect set-up; he was the AM parent and she was the PM parent. You need lunch -- Dad will make it. You need to get to school -- Dad will take you. You need help with homework -- ask Mom. You have a huge project that will keep you working til the wee hours of the night -- definitely ask Mom b/c Dad has this funny way of fading around 10:45pm. Our household is slightly different. Sadly, for our children's sake, we are not morning people. It is going to be a long and grouchy road...