One Year Ago: Part 3

Sorry, I'm late. Oh well, I think you all survived the wait. :)

Yesterday, Geri had a dentist appointment. Honestly, I'm sort of stumped for how to present what happened yesterday and what it all means. I'll start with what that was like one year ago, I guess.

When Geri came home, no one had ever brushed her teeth. Never ever. She was orally defensive, to say the least. We could not touch her lips, tongue or teeth with anything other than a metal spoon or a cup. I'm aware it sounds a bit odd to talk about trying to put your hands in your child's mouth, but when you really think about it, that's an important thing. You can't brush their teeth if they clamp shut when you come near. You can't check for loose teeth, or see if they chipped anything when they fall. You can't even put chapstick on them. And you sure as shootin' can't get them into a dentist's office for any useful purpose. Riding the chair, by the way, doesn't count as useful in my book.

So, when Geri had her first visit, about 9 months ago, we were proud of her for letting the dentist pry open her mouth for about 50 seconds to peek inside. No instruments, no brushing, no x-rays. She had to be knocked out for all of that.

Yesterday, she got x-rays of her teeth. No, she wasn't exactly pleased but it happened. She opened wide for the dentist and gladly let her brush all of her teeth and look at them. She let the dentist look with the mirror and even scrape a tiny bit with the probing instrument. It was awesome.

It was also the result of hard work on everyone's part. I never pictured parenting her as involving 5-minute sessions of mommy exploring her mouth with a finger, just to get her to allow tooth-brushing some day. It was one of those surreal moments in parenting that paid off. Even if it was really weird at the time and I still think it sounds crazy written out. :)