I've been putting off taking Maya to the dentist for a long time. It's pretty much just been the last year, but you see, I have a dentist phobia. I don't like them. I don't like the smell, the sounds, and a lot of times the people. It's not personal, I'm sure they're lovely people, I just hate going there. So the thought of taking Maya was a little frightening. I certainly couldn't have her go with me to my check up to see how things work...what would happen when she saw me tense with fear and cringing at everything?? That certainly wouldn't help her to not be afraid, would it? So I just went ahead and took her in blind. I did talk to her several times about what would happen and we read a book about it, but she was still nervous.
Yesterday on our way there she told me she was scared and wanted to know if it was a girl doctor. You see, that's very important to her. :) And thankfully we were seeing a female doctor. But she was very excited about picking out a new toothbrush! When we got there she LOVED the play area...pediatric dentists have awesome waiting rooms! But the mood changed once the dentist came out to meet her. It no longer mattered that she was a girl or that she would give her a new toothbrush. She was scared.
At first sitting in the chair was neat...not quite so scary, but then I think she started to look around at everything. And they did start off with picking out the toothbrush, I thought that would help but apparently a purple, sparkly Snow White toothbrush could not calm her.
And even though the dentist referred to it as a princess chair and talked about her princess teeth, she was getting more and more nervous.
And then all hell broke loose. She refused to lay her head back, even though they had a TV on the ceiling for her to watch! But I told the dentist to proceed. Yes, I'm a mean mom. And I held her down. Held her arms and legs while she screamed and thrashed through the entire cleaning. Thankfully there were no other kids in the waiting room because I'm sure they would've ran screaming out the door!
It wasn't fun for me, it wasn't fun for her and it wasn't fun for Landon sitting in the stroller next to her crying because his big sister was in distress. But we managed to finish.
But she did get over her hatred for the dentist long enough to pick out a prize from the super cool treasure chest! The dentist asked if this was how I expected it to go and I said "Yes." She acted like this for the last two years when the pediatrician tried to look in her ears!
To make things better I offered her one of two treats, Dunkin Donuts or ice cream.
And even though I'm sure she'll remember her experience for awhile she hasn't really talked about it. Only one mention today that she doesn't have to go back for 6 months! LOL
So, should I make the appointment for Landon now or wait a little bit???




