Jack and Violet go to the dentist

You can add "dentist" to the list of things that Violet is afraid of.

Jack and Violet went to the dentist today for their regular six-month check-up.  This was Violet's second visit, and she liked it even less than the first time.  At least then, she let me hold her on my lap while the dentist quickly checked to make sure she didn't have any cavities.  This time, she wouldn't even let me do that. I thought that maybe if she got to see how calmly Jack sat through his exam, she would do ok.  If anything, seeing this strange woman stick strange instruments in her brother's mouth only strengthened her resolve that she did NOT want to do that.   Even with the promise of a movie and stickers and a treat afterward.

Admittedly, this may not have been the best visit for her to witness.  Jack was calm and collected as usual, but this was the first time that I saw the hygienist use that sharp metal hook to scrape the plaque off the back of his teeth.  The poor hygienist was doing her best to make what she was doing to Jack look not that scary to Violet, but she was making a pretty bad job of it.

"Look at the mirror," she kept cooing to Violet, as she rubbed the little metal mirror against Jack's cheek.  "It's soft!"

A "soft" mirror is not going to be particularly comforting to a little girl who is afraid of a stranger poking around in her mouth.

It quickly became clear to me that there was no way that Violet was going to let this exam happen, but the hapless hygienist kept trying.  She kept offering stickers and trying to get Violet to put on headphones so she could watch the Mickey Mouse movie Jack was watching.  She only succeeded in freaking Violet out even more.

Thankfully, our dentist is a mom herself, and she was very understanding and reassuring about Violet's anxiety.  She said that 18 months to two and a half years old is the toughest for nervous patients.  I guess we'll try again in six months.