Violet at the dentist

I've mentioned before on this blog that Violet does not like the dentist.  I don't know why she doesn't, because she's never had a bad experience.  But the first few times I've taken her, she has absolutely refused to sit in the chair and let the dentist look at her teeth.  We'd tried everything: letting her see how well Jack does, not making her see him in the chair, having me hold her, putting on movies, tempting her with all manner of stickers and toys.  Nothing ever worked.

Last month, I'd scheduled an appointment for both children, but I ended up having to postpone Violet's because she was still recovering from that nasty flu we all had.  Jack was well enough to go, and he was awesome as usual.  Seeing all the goodies that he got as a result of being such a good patient did nothing to make Violet want to earn them herself.

Her rescheduled appointment was last Wednesday.  To say that she was not excited would be a gross understatement.

"I don't yike the dentist! I don't want her to hurt me!"

I don't know where she got this idea that the dentist would hurt her.  She kept saying that she would rather go to the doctor for a check up than go to the dentist, which is weird because she's actually gotten shots at the doctor, whereas she's never had anything remotely traumatic happen to her at the dentist.

Even as we were walking up to the office from the car, she kept saying, "I don't want to go to the dentist! I'm scary!"  (She says "scary" when she means "scared.")  I had resigned myself to the increasingly likely possibility that this was going to be a wasted visit.

And then... laaaaaa!  It was like hearing a choir of angels when we opened the door to the waiting room. A Curious George movie was playing on the flat screen TV!

Violet has been really into Curious George for the past several months.  I had always avoided it with Jack, because I knew too many of his friends who would emulate the monkey's naughtiness and inability to use words.  But Violet loves it, and it's actually the one thing that Jack likes to watch with her since he never got to see it as a toddler.

She was transfixed by the TV.  When they called us to the exam room, she was thrilled to see that they were playing the same movie on the TV above the chair.  She still wanted me to hold her, so I laid back on the chair and had her lay back on top of me.  So alas, I still have no pictures of her from the dentist.  But she did great.  She let the dentist look at her teeth and put some fluoride treatment on them, and she even let the dental assistant clean them.

After the exam was over, she chose two Hello Kitty stickers and then went digging through the treasure chest out in the lobby for her treat.  After careful consideration, she chose a plastic motorcycle.  It tickles me so much that she is girly enough to want Hello Kitty stickers but not so girly that she wouldn't choose a motorcycle toy.

She was so proud that she got a goody bag with her own toothbrush, toothpaste, and flosser, just like Jack.  I ended up having to confiscate the toothbrush and toothpaste, because she thought that watching TV on the couch was a perfect time to brush her teeth.  But she held on to the flosser and kept singing in the car, "Oh, I love love love this flosser!" to the tune of  "Lever Lover" from Sesame Street.

We really lucked out that the Curious George movie was playing.  I don't know that anything else would have gotten her through that exam.  But now that she's done it, I'm hopeful that she will be likely to repeat it when we go back in six months.

I'm so proud of my brave girl.