The Paytons: The Dentist

The other day I was watching Avah. Will had a dentist appointment so we decided that Avah's dad would pick her up at Will's dentist office just before his appointment. This meant that on the way to Bloomington I needed to have 3 car seats in our backseat. ...something I've wondered if possible when imagining what it would be like if we had 3 children. They were all lined up like sardines. It was one thing after another. MOM, will you turn on a movie? MOM, will you turn it up? MOM, can we have some gum? MOM, Dane's touching me! Will was in the middle and he and Dane were not enjoying their new close proximity. I heard a lot of "DANE!" "Daaaaaaane!" "Mom, look what your baby's doing!" Avah ended the trip in tears after Will took a book from her. I was suddenly glad that my new hands free earpiece for my phone had two ear buds- so I enjoyed a little Pandora on the way down, surround sound.

Will had been to the dentist a few times already (flashback to his accident in Florida when he bit almost all the way through his tongue which caused his front tooth to turn gray. Fortunately the tooth is almost back to normal, but they still like to keep a close eye on it) So as we waited for his appt I was remembering my brave little boy and his trips to the dentist office. Two times ago they wanted to do x-rays of his teeth and I was pregnant with Dane so I couldn't be in the room with him (just peeking around the corner). So there he was with complete strangers with this huge machine in his face, things in his mouth, lying back on a stranger's lap. Tears were streaming down his face he was so scared, but my brave little boy did exactly what they told him to and held so very still. I could have cried myself. So this time they call his name and we all head over when she says "he's in the big kids room now so he can come back by himself!" What? I asked him if he wanted to go by himself and he replied with a quick No and pleading eyes saying please don't make me! So we all head back and walk through the door. I'm pretty sure I gasped out loud. In shock, horror, surprise, laughter, I'm not sure even what I was feeling. It reminded me of some type of bad emergency room scene. All of these kids lying on exam chairs, their feet up in the air in these bays. It seemed so "assembly line." I think there were 6 of these "bays." What happened to the nice individual exam rooms? I was in shock I had never seen anything like it and I had to practically pick up my jaw up off the floor. She led us to our bay and I sat down in the rolling chair beside him while he climbed up on the exam chair. "Actually," she said "I'm going to sit there. You can sit over there." and pointed to a bench across the way. Oh! I thought, ok. Let me just rip my heart out of my chest myself and leave it here on the chair for you to work on, is what I felt like. So Dane and I went "over there" and watched. My little boy could not have been more brave! He was laughing it up with his hygienist, chatting away with her, watching cartoons on the the flat screen tv above him on the ceiling. I was literally in shock. He looked over a couple of times and waved.