What do you get when you have one doctor's appointment and three dental appointments scheduled for a three, four and six year old in the same day?...Pure chaos. If you've ever taken a child to the doctor or dentist, you've probably had either a really good visit or a really bad visit. There's usually not a whole lot in between. If you've ever taken FOUR kids to an appointment at the same time, well, you can do the math. Our three-year old little girl had a wellness check up yesterday morning that I think the entire state of North Carolina could hear. In her defense, I made the mistake of letting her stay in the doctor's office a few weeks ago when her four-year old brother had to get stitches in his eyebrow. That experience ended up being pretty close to an exorcism, so without surprise, as soon as we pulled into the parking lot again yesterday, she immediately held her eye and began to cry saying, "No hurt Preston's eye!" Little did she know we weren't going there for Preston (enter maniacal laugh). The two older boys were in school during this visit, but our four year old son went with us and sat in the office with a look of pure and utter relief when he realized that we weren't there for him. The nurse began to try everything she could with with our clingy little girl. She weighed her, measured her, checked her eyes, her blood/cholesterol level...all while this freakishly strong ninja baby climbed up my body in shear panic and fear. Our Pediatrician is beyond amazing and she was then able to check our little girl, give her a vaccination and hand her a sticker without skipping a beat. With a band-aid on her leg, one on her finger and a kitty sticker on her shirt, we were off.
A few hours later we picked the two older boys up from school and headed to the dentist. Ahhhhh, the dentist. I wish I could say that the dentist's office freaks them out because it's a big scary place with sharp knives and drills...but it's not. From the staff to the layout of the office, it's warm, friendly and full of toothy happiness. You almost expect a unicorn with a toothbrush to pop out at any minute. Why then - would our three and four-year old children both go into automatic lock-down at the front entrance? Only God knows. With our little girl's new found strength and climbing skills, the nurse AND the dentist had to all but hold her down just to check her teeth. It wasn't much better with her four-year old brother. Just when he thought he got out of Dodge for the day, it was his turn. How these people can work on wiggly, screaming kids with their Evel Knievel moves is beyond me. Our older son who's six was a champ. He made me hope that there might be at least some glimmer of chance for our younger two in the future.
All in all, we made it through the day with vaccinations and teeth cleaned. I have a whole new respect for the nurses and physicians who handle kids like these every single day. I can't help but think though that in six to twelve months when our routine visits need to be scheduled again, they'll surely know and be ready for when our ninja baby girl and Evel Knievel son are about to ride again.
A few hours later we picked the two older boys up from school and headed to the dentist. Ahhhhh, the dentist. I wish I could say that the dentist's office freaks them out because it's a big scary place with sharp knives and drills...but it's not. From the staff to the layout of the office, it's warm, friendly and full of toothy happiness. You almost expect a unicorn with a toothbrush to pop out at any minute. Why then - would our three and four-year old children both go into automatic lock-down at the front entrance? Only God knows. With our little girl's new found strength and climbing skills, the nurse AND the dentist had to all but hold her down just to check her teeth. It wasn't much better with her four-year old brother. Just when he thought he got out of Dodge for the day, it was his turn. How these people can work on wiggly, screaming kids with their Evel Knievel moves is beyond me. Our older son who's six was a champ. He made me hope that there might be at least some glimmer of chance for our younger two in the future.
All in all, we made it through the day with vaccinations and teeth cleaned. I have a whole new respect for the nurses and physicians who handle kids like these every single day. I can't help but think though that in six to twelve months when our routine visits need to be scheduled again, they'll surely know and be ready for when our ninja baby girl and Evel Knievel son are about to ride again.
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