The Dentist

Last night I had a dental appointment to get my teeth cleaned. The plan was for hubby to watch Bug-a-Boo while I went. The kink in this plan was that hubby had a tooth-ache a week ago and called to schedule an appointment. The one time they could get him in was last night. His appointment was at 5 & mine was at 6, so no problem right? I actually called and asked the receptionist if I should reschedule, but she said she was sure it would be fine.

I brushed my teeth before going and realized that since I normally do so after Bug-a-Boo goes to bed, he hasn’t watched me brush my teeth before. He stared at me, like, “you mean you have to do that too?” When I flossed he thought that was the coolest, so I handed him some floss. For the next 10 minutes he crawled and walked around the house trying to floss his teeth.

Hubby called at 5:30 to say that he had just been taken back, & he didn’t see how he would be ready to watch Bug-a-Boo at 6. Confident that he would be finishing up as I was arriving, I finished the dishes (see yesterday’s post), loaded the baby into the car and headed to the dentist. When I got there I explained our situation. It turned out that Hubby was not going to be done for a little while, so the hygienist happily said, “No problem. Come on back, & you can just hold him in your lap.”

“Excuse me! Don’t you mean reschedule?” I thought. I went back and climbed into the chair. Bug-a-Boo had never been to the dentist before and looked around with wide eyes. They laid me back, and he was so into all that was going on that he just sat on my lap, watched, and played with my ring & fingers. When I was about halfway done, he realized that some really cool things were within his reach – namely the mouthwash. I almost got it all over my pants since I had my eyes closed as the hygienist had requested. (I have had numerous dentists and hygienists tell me that I make horrible faces when they are working on my teeth. I try not to, but who likes someone messing in their mouth?) Thankfully she caught it and scooted it out of his reach. She gave him a new toothbrush to play with instead. He made me so proud as he sat there brushing his teeth while watching me get mine cleaned. (Now if only he’ll be just as happy when I brush his teeth at night.) She then had an assistant blow up a grape scented glove like a balloon and draw a smiley face on it. (The thumb was the nose & the fingers were some crazy hair.) This kept him entertained while she finished up.

At one point the hygienist started talking to me about potty training a boy. (Don’t you love it how they talk to you when your mouth is too full to respond.) When I got a chance I said, “Oh, we’re not quite there yet. He’s only 16 months old.” “Really!” she replied. “He is a big boy!” She thought he was at least 2.

When hubby got home he told me how the dental assistant working with him seemed a bit distracted by the precious baby across the way. Thankfully his dental work wasn’t affected.

Really though – who would have thought – I actually had my teeth cleaned and a brief dental exam all with my baby who is really now more of a toddler sitting contentedly in my lap. How cool is that? I do think though that next time the novelty will have worn off, so we’ll schedule a little better so he can play at home.