Translation: “no dentist no no no. From [Big Boy]”

We had our first “big” visit to the dentist today. And by “big” I mean more than a tooth cleaning. They needed to do a little work on some back teeth. I explained a bit about what they would do on the way to the office, and almost immediately Big Boy crumbled into tears and insisted he didn’t want to go.

We got there, and he did really well getting in the chair and listening to everything. He picked out a special smell, but as soon as they showed him the “silly nose” mask with special air in it, he recoiled. He absolutely refused to put the mask on.

I finally managed to drag out of him that he didn’t like it because it looked like a mask Little Boy had worn when he was in the hospital. I explained that if it was going to hurt I would tell him, and this wasn’t one of those things. I explained the difference between the masks. I finally asked him, “Don’t you trust me?”

He said, “No.”

I had to chuckle at that — he was honest.

They decided to ask him if he’d let them “paint his teeth” without the mask. He agreed to that, though I think we all thought he might change his mind when he got the novacaine. But he did really well and even let me take Little Boy and Little Girl back to the waiting area to play. I thought we’d managed to get through that experience unscathed.

I thought wrong. Things went downhill when we got the van and his lip was still numb. He got very upset because I couldn’t “wake up” his lip. He couldn’t eat his apple the way he wanted to, he couldn’t drink right, and he was mad. So he wrote this note and taped it to my door. Then he took me down the hall to show it to me and said he never wants this to happen again.

We have to go back in a month for the other side. I have resolved to find someone to watch the kids for that morning as I have a feeling it’s going to take every bit of charm, cajoling, and bribery to get him to get back in that dentist chair!