Nothing Good Comes From the Dentist

This is not a dig on dentists or hygienists, I happen to really like mine. I don't have very good luck at the dentist myself so I don't know why I thought my kids' luck would be better. I was hoping they would inherit Leo's teeth but they have not. Yesterday, I took Tommy and Belle to our new dentist. I took them out of school at 2:00 and didn't get home until 3:30. It felt like I was there for 5 hours. To give you an idea of how it went, Tommy was in his room until dinner and Belle was crying because I told her she couldn't eat right at that minute because she just had fluoride (she wouldn't even have been home from school yet but she was insisting that if she didn't eat something she was going to die).

I should have known that the visit was not going to go well because when I walked in the waiting room, which most closets are bigger than, it was 100 degrees. Tommy went first and Isabella did a great job of helping me keep Gia entertained (of course every Lego went in her mouth so by the weekend, she should have a rip roaring virus). Isabella fights me every time she has to brush her teeth so while she was sitting there, she kept saying, "What if I have a cavity? Are you going to be mad? I don't think I have one. I'm scared. What does it mean if I have one? Does Tommy have one? He lies and says he brushes his teeth but trust me, Mom. He doesn't." When in doubt, throw your brother right under the bus. When Tommy came out, the dentist said he has to be better at brushing the front of his teeth and he has an opening in one of his molars that needs to be filled. No decay yet but needs to get taken care of at another appointment. Tommy looked like he just had surgery. I ask him what was wrong and he replied with a mouth full of spit, "I'm afraid to swallow. It tastes bad." Gia started getting antsy and Tommy picked that time to ask to go to Dairy Queen. The conversation went like this:

"Can we go to Dairy Queen?"
"No."
"Why?"
"I don't have money for Dairy Queen."
"I have $3"
"That's not enough."
"You can pay the rest, can't you?"
"No, I don't have money for Dairy Queen."
He grabbed my purse. "Tommy, put that back." He completely ignored me telling him three more times. "Tommy put that back before you are grounded for not listening."
"OH MY GOD!!! YOU HAVE $20 FOR DAIRY QUEEN!!" The receptionist was laughing and Gia was crying and I was sweating.
"You are grounded for not listening."
"Why can't we go to Dairy Queen? You have money."
"It's not for Dairy Queen." It's for Starbucks but he doesn't need to know that. He proceeded to act like a child that doesn't ever have consequences for acting that way in public (like a real brat but I'm not sure I can say that). He was aggravating Gia and telling me he didn't care that he was grounded and that it was "stupid" for me to ground him for looking in my wallet. After I told him that he was going to bed at 7:00, he changed his tune.
"It's not my fault. They gave me loopy gas and that's why I'm acting like this." They did not.

I COULD NOT WAIT FOR THE VISIT TO END! When Belle was done, she didn't want to talk about it. Why? Because she had 4 cavities!!! She does a good job brushing the front but not the back. Will that lesson EVER be learned? I had to make two more appointments for her (which now equals three more times of the experience I just went through...good times). Gia went down for a late nap which wasn't fun later, Belle was crying because I told her that when she was able to eat, it couldn't be fruit snacks (one of her favorites), and because Tommy was mad about going to bed early, he yelled in front of Gia's door and slammed his door waking her up. He's going to spend a lot of time alone this weekend.

I know as their mom, I have to take them to the dentist but it is just like asking for more chaos in my life. Will there ever be a time when I go, they get their teeth cleaned, I feel like a capable, responsible parent and everything be great...see you in six months?