As her mother, I feel like we have been preparing for this event f-o-r-e-v-e-r... Teaching her to brush her teeth. Remembering to make her brush her teeth. Wrestling with her to spot check and thoroughly scrub the ones in back. Getting bit. A shadow visit with Grandma. Probably 5 scheduled and re-scheduled visits...
I am not exaggerating there. I can only imagine what the office ladies think... In fact, her last this-is-it-we-are-getting-her-in-to-see-the-dentist-if-it's-the-last-thing-I-do appointment was supposed to happen on September 5th. A Wednesday. At 4:30 in the afternoon.
At 4:25... I realized I forgot.
Pretty sure yesterday was our last straw.
Hell or high water! I was making that damn appointment!
The night before, I gave all 20 of those pearly whites a scrubbing. I couldn't help but think, "Lord I hope they look okay. I don't want to be 'that mother' who's kid's teeth are rotting out of her face." Of course they aren't...but still.
I went though some roll playing with My Brown Eyed Girl. The Dentist is going to count your teeth like this... and then the Dentist will have you open WIDE like an alligator like this... and then the Dentist will have you bite down to show your front teeth like a tiger, like this...
And then I was schooled. My Brown Eyed Girl was completely fine with opening up like an alligator; however, she did not feel like being a tiger.
"No Mommy. I want to be a Princess and SMILE like this..."
At which point the wiggled, posed, batted her eyes and displayed her little white teeth through her smile.
A Princess...
NOT a tiger...
Got it!
Lord help me...
We talked about the Dentist's magic toothbrush, the noise it makes, polish flavors, flossing... pretty sure I covered all the basics. All that was left was for one last final... bribe. In true motherly fashion, I bribed my Brown Eyed Girl that if she was really good, she let the Dentist clean all of her teeth and she didn't bite the Dentist - another fear aside from rotting teeth, please don't make the Dentist bleed tomorrow - I would buy her a treat.
Yep you heard it! That's right. I bribed her (again.)
I picked her up from daycare and she was pumped. The whole way to the office we went over the process again. Alligator. Princess. Magic toothbrush. Counting teeth. No biting. And of course her treat - stopping at the gas station for a $.99 juice.
Lord let her always only want a $.99 juice as her reward and not $100 Guess Jeans...
We arrived. We were excited!
Filling out paperwork in the waiting room, my Brown Eyed Girl was bouncing off the walls. She was oozing with excitement.
By the time we were asked back and walked to our room, she became quiet as a mouse.
She was nervous.
I kept on a smile, stayed positive and excited.
I think it helped a little that her little bib was purple.
We need an ice breaker!
Thankfully, the hygienist commented on her beautiful gold, sparkling shoes. Talk shoes, she'll warm right up. In fact about the only thing I can get out of her when I ask how her day was at preschool are what the other girls shoes look like.
Houston, we may have a problem in the future...
Here, she is telling the hygientist how old her brother is.
Later, I noticed in the pictures that when she wasn't talking, she had her lips wrapped tight around those chompers like a ninty year old man with out his dentures.
Before she had time to rethink a thing, we got down to business.
Teeth were counted...
My Brown Eyed Girl chose bubble gum flavored polish - pretty sure she has never tried bubble gum. I wonder if she thought she was getting the real deal.
Out came the magic toothbrush.
She did so good and even giggled a little bit when it tickled.
Then her pretty teeth were washed and she got a kick out of sucking on the suction straw.
She even let them floss her teeth.
Piece of cake!
She did AWESOME for her first cleaning! She made sure to show me that her teeth now "sparkled like twinkle little diamonds."
While we waited on a final check by the Dentist, she got to pick out a new tooth brush - Belle, from Beauty and the Beast no less.
The Dentist came in and we counted teeth again.
She got a clean bill of health!
Thank the Lord, no rotten teeth or bleeding fingers today.
Best of all, this little princess with her twinkle-little-diamond teeth got a Cinderella sticker, princess wand and princess crown on top of her Belle toothbrush for being such a good girl at the Dentist.
I was so proud of her. My little, big girl did really, really well for her first visit.
...and then we headed to the gas station to get her $.99 juice.
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