Dental (Not So) Fun

She's no "David after the Dentist" but when Chloe broke a tooth and had to be put to sleep to repair it, I caught a few seconds of Chloe shortly after she woke up so that Joe could get a bit of a feel for how she acted.

I think the experience was tougher for me than for her. After the initial fear, she had picked up from somewhere that she was going to "go to sleep" at the dentist, she was taken in by the fun toys and friendly assistants at the dental office. The shot to her arm as she looked for toys in a treasure chest was an unwelcome suprise, but in less than 30 seconds she was out. It was at this point that the doctor said "This is when the child stops crying and the mom starts." His timing couldn't have been more perfect because the tears had in fact just started welling up as I cuddled my limp, blankly staring daughter, and felt like the worst parent in the world - even though this really wasn't my fault - and continued to tear up as they took her away for the repairs.

When I saw her next she was asleep on a sofa and I sat next to her until she woke up. She was still completely unfazed by the experience and I then went from upset mother to entertained as she told me I had two noses and realized she had a tongue. As we got home and she was still unable to walk steadily she decided to army crawl across the room in hopes of making it outside to blow bubbles. The rest of the day she was more than a little loopy and five days later sometimes I wonder if she still doesn't have some side effects - but instead realize her funny little moments are the result of being three, not being drugged. Although it didn't end up being the horrible experience I envisioned and had it's funny moments, it was bad enough, and I never want to go or put one of my kids through it again. So my rule from now on - no stale starbursts.