(Thank you conscious dental hygiene practices and good genetics.)
I'll be real honest, because that's who I am...Natalee is 10 and this was her first dental appointment. I'm not proud of it, but as a friend and I often remind each other - no looking back, only doing better forward. I'd always been nervous to take her because she's pretty sensory. Then weeks turned into months turned into years, and ...... here we are. Also, I am petrified of the dentist. Yes, at 30+ years old. So, that played into the ease at putting off this task, I'm sure.
Today's appointments were stacked on top of each other, so Natalee actually had to go pretty well on her own (I was there for the dentist check and the run down of how things looked). She did the cleaning, the bite wing, the x-rays, and all of that independently (knowing I was somewhere and she could ask for me!) and I'm really so proud of her. She's grown up so much lately.
The little 2 were called back right after Natalee and did wonderfully. They were obedient and compliant. When the tech asked me if Z would "let" her look in his mouth, I said, "he will do what he's told." Expectations = results.
I was shocked to find out Zayden has a front tooth that's had trauma to it, and is actually loose and going to come out. (I'm a little sad - he'll be without a tooth until the permanent one comes in!) I've wracked my brain to think of when this happened but can't come up with a specific instance. Truthfully, if this was going to happen to a kid I'm not shocked it's him - trampoline, bike riding, couch/stair jumping, daredevil boy that he is - but I do feel bad that I didn't realize. I brush his teeth everyday and didn't know that he had a loose one or that it had a bit of an infection. I'm so grateful that we were there today and they were able to tell me - I can imagine my panic had it fallen out here unexpectedly - like imagining that panic gives me panic.
The dentist complimented Mia on her lovely tie revisions - I told her that this girl of ours had a thousand dollar mouth before she had any teeth - ha! Xavier hadn't been called for his appointment yet, so he actually sat in her room while I was next door in Zayden's room. It was sweet to hear him being her big encourager.
Xavier was the last one to go through and he did great for his first time, too! We all got to watch him get his cleaned because he was the last one.
After such a good report at the dentist mommy treated the kids to fast food - because to them it is a treat and I also did not want to cook. They all thanked me multiple times for the treat - LOL.
Three different people complimented me on our children's behavior today. At the dentist's office, at Walgreens (she even shook my hand to tell me how much she appreciated my efforts as a mother), and at Burger King. Not every moment is glorious, but I do notice (especially when we are out) that the high expectations we set for them daily are resulting in well mannered children....grace covers the rest (wink).
Bonus...Zayden tonight -he's not sure what he thinks about one of his teeth coming out.
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