I'm the type of person who likes to find one specific doctor, dentist, ophthalmologist or podiatrist and then stick with them until their inevitable retirement date. To me, I don't think that's asking too much. I've come to learn that insurance companies often times feel differently necessitating that change occurs. For adults who have become set in their ways, this can definitely be a little hard. For children, like Ethan, it's barely even a blip on the radar.
 |
| BLIP, not Blippi |
I'm guessing that open makes it pretty obvious but yesterday marked our first visit to a new dentist which was necessitated by our previous dentist dropping our insurance. It's ok though. Change isn't always a bad thing. Plus, it allowed us to do a college style hat dance where we sat behind a table with caps featuring the logos of each dental office on it while we made our choice. There were brief fake outs and everything leading up to the moment when we finally plopped a hat with the words "Garrison Family Dental" on top of our heads. Ok, so that last part never actually happened but it would have been pretty fun.
After dropping Ellie off at school yesterday, Ethan and I drove up to Smithville for our biannual dentist exam. Actually, this wasn't just a biannual exam for Ethan; it was his very first REAL appointment at the dentist. Sure, he's sat in the chair before and allowed the dental hygienist to count his teeth, but he's never actually had a full cleaning and exam before yesterday.
As Ethan's never had a REAL appointment before, we decided that it would be best for him to watch me sit through my exam first and then he would go second. To help the time go more quickly for the little man, my new hygienist turned on Nickelodeon where Ethan was elated to see the Paw Patrol saving Adventure Bay. As my cleaning went along though, Ethan found himself less drawn to the TV and more drawn to what was happening to his dad in the big chair. He proceeded to wander over right next to my arm and affectionately patted it while my teeth were being cleaned. Finally, after a quick consult with the dentist, it was time for Ethan to hop up in the big chair for his exam.
The first thing that the hygienist did was show Ethan each of the tools she would be working with and let him touch and feel anything he was curious about. From there, the chair was reclined, and Ethan's dentist visit commenced. There were a couple of times that I saw his eyes darting around a bit nervously during the cleaning but ultimately everything went swimmingly. I'm sure if you were to ask Ethan his opinions on the dentist, he would regale you with epic tales of how his teeth were brushed with strawberry toothpaste and how the lady painted something (fluoride) that tasted like bubble gum on his mouth. He might even tell you of how he got two prizes for being such a great patient.
However, there is one thing I'm absolutely certain he would share; that being the story of how he got to choose his very own Spider-Man toothbrush from the big drawer of toothbrushes hidden in the cabinet next to the big chair. I've honestly never seen him so excited to brush his teeth in his entire life. Let's hope that keeps up. After all, he doesn't want cavities that he has to get fixed like me. I won't even have Ethan with me to give me emotional support.
#DaddyWrite
No comments:
Post a Comment