Pearly Whites

My girl has a healthy fear of our pediatrician, much to my pediatricians understandable dismay.  We have a wonderful doctor - she's patient with my many questions, my "worry wartedness" and completely understanding and supportive of working moms since she is one herself.  She's funny and very gentle with our children.  You can't blame Madelyn though, every time she goes, she's getting a shot or her ears are being scraped.  It's so bad that at our last visit, Madelyn cried when William was getting shots!

So, you can imagine my trepidation for Madelyn's first dental appointment.  I didn't want to be the mother with "that" child....  The child with nasty teeth and numerous cavities because said child flipped a lid every time her mother came near her with a tooth brush.  We do brush.  Every night.  And every night Madelyn flips a lid.  I try to be as nonchalant about it as I can be.  While Madelyn has "her turn" with her Piglet toothbrush and apple flavored trainer paste, I lotion her up.  Then, it's "Mama's turn".

Queue screaming child soundtrack here.

Every night.

So, imagine my delight when not only does it turn out that Madelyn's teeth are in "better shape than most", but that she actually liked riding up and down the dental chair (even if she had to be coaxed the first time by having Mama and William ride with her).  She thought "Mr. Thirsty" was pretty cool the way he sucked water out of her mouth.   She wasn't so sure about the little mirror, but she sure did like the part where she got to pick out a new tooth brush, 5 stickers ("more, Mama?") and a little toy.

She has a new best friend, Holly, whom she talks about nightly ("Mama, go Holly and up, down?") and I have a new phrase to help coax her...."let's brush the sugar bugs off your teeth, darlin!"