Let me back up a minute.
Remeber this girl with the missing tooth? Well she has since lost another and has several more wiggling around. The problem is she's never actually had a dental checkup. It kinda slipped my mind for a while when I was having babies and putting tubes in their ears.(If you're healthy, you apparently don't get enough attention around here) So when she started kindergarten I just signed her up to get her teeth checked at the school. Then I forgot about it. And didn't remember to talk to her about it a month later when the fateful day came. Anyone who knows my girl can imagine her reaction when a stranger tells her she wants to mess around in her mouth. Not good. So the nurse called Grandma Ellen (I have no idea why she didn't call me) and Grandma let her watch the other kids, but that girl was getting nowhere near a dentist's chair.
So I eventually got around to making her an appointment with another dentist. Yesterday. She was really excited. Ready to let them do what they could to keep her teeth healthy. She sat very still and calm for the cleaning and the first part of the sealants. That's where things got dicey. They did sealants on one side but when the stopped to change sides, Miss Chloe decided she didn't want anyone to do anything else inside of her mouth. AT ALL. She screamed and cried. She clung to the arms of the chair so she couldn't be held back. To my shame, I even tried to bribe her. All to no avail. That girl would not be moved. So we made another appointment for today when Daddy would take her.
The thing of it is, this is not my girl. Never have I seen her admit what she is doing is wrong, tell me what she should do and then tell me that she will not do it. After stubbornly refusing to tell Kevin if she would obey him or me yesterday, she was sent to her room until she made a decision whether or not to lay down in the dentist's chair and obey. The girl was resolute. After about 10 minutes, she called to Kevin... just to tell him Jadon was in the room with her. Her obstinance still evident in her demeanor. Some time later, she called for him again. He fully expected her to remain in the room the rest of the day based on her previous behavior. But when he entered, it was as if Chloe had returned. She was no longer a disobedient, unrecognizable child. She was our girl. She apologized and told him he didn't have to take her to the dentist, she would obey for Mommy and the workers.
Now, we were very impressed with this change of attitude, but we are also not stupid. Daddy will be less than 5 minutes away from the dentist's office when we go today. But we will be praying it is an unnecessary precaution.
You know, the funny thing is, Chloe herself admitted several times that nothing hurt. It didn't even taste bad. She just decided she didn't want to do it anymore. I think that's the thing that scares me the most: how strong her will is, for no real reason other than asserting it. So anyway, if you find yourself with a spare minute this week, please pray for me. I think I need it.
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