Dental Appointment

I just need to jot down yesterday's adventures. It was a chaotic day.

Running kids here and there and then picking them back up for this major dentist appointment that I had made for all three of the girls at the same time. And somehow I got myself dolled up decent enough to attend a meeting for C and look like a normal person. I may have actually taken a double-take in the mirror, wondering where that girl has been for the past month. I have been rocking the mom-bun a lot but took the time to blow-dry and straighten my hair and it made a large difference.

C's meeting was actually for her sister, but because of dad actually getting into his apartment that he was supposed to get into back in March, I wanted to hear firsthand how everything was going and going to go down. Nothing much to report. They are looking at a return to parent the end of July - giving the girls some time out of school and for dad to get his house put together with some furniture and stuff from the community warehouse. C's sister is a pretty big worrier and has some anxiety about moving away from everything that she knows and is upset that her parents aren't together to live happily ever after. It's like the trauma from a divorce, too, that affects kids so deeply. Not just trauma from being removed from mom and put into foster care. It goes so much deeper and the resentment is against both parents right now.

I had to take E to the meeting because I didn't have time to pick her up from a sitter afterwards. She did really great and the person who was most distracted by her presence was C's mom. It was slightly irritating. I was feeling super territorial of my little girl.

After the meeting I ran around like a crazy lady picking up Alaska and D from school and we headed off to Clatskanie (45 min drive) for the dentist.

When we got there, there was three pages of paper work for each girl that I scribbled through and before I was done with all of them, a team of three ladies came out to gather the girls up to clean their teeth. A whole team! I was expecting them to do one at a time. It was the best surprise ever! I stayed in the waiting room while the cleaning was happening - finishing up the paperwork and catching up on some magazine reading time. I smiled to myself as I listened to the girls. They were so excited and filled with energy that their conversations could be heard all the way in the waiting room.

Alaska to the hygienist - my sister lost her tooth!
D from the other cubicle - and I got a dollar!
And it went back and forth like that - their excited voices spilling all their beans about their teeth to the hygienists.

They summoned me in when the dentist was looking at all their teeth and I got caught up on their complications.

Alaska has a cavity that she has had practically as long as she has had a molar. But it's not decayed and is mostly unsightly because of the stain. So we are instructed to watch it again. Which is what we have been doing for the past three years.

D has tight teeth and has invisible cavities all up and through her mouth, between her teeth - 11 or some unsightly number.

E came with visible cavities and they weren't able to do an x-ray to find more due to her gag reflex.

They'll both be referred to a pediatric specialist to get everything fixed up.

D had been upset that she hadn't been able to eat lunch before I picked up her up - and because I hadn't sent her with a lunch - she also didn't have her accustomed snack at snack time that I put in special for her to eat in class. She was starving and shed a couple of tears on the way to the appointment. We just didn't have time. Not even to stop at McDonalds before heading out of town.

I made it up to them by taking them to pizza afterwards. I ordered a medium and we polished it off with no problem. D had chosen the card game 'old maid' as a prize and I don't ever remember playing that as a kid. After lunch we opened up the pack and read the directions - learning how to play as we went, all 4 of us. We played through a couple of games before heading back into the car for the trek home. It was just the best time ever. Absolutely filling me to the top with love for each girl.

Later that night we went to John's band concert, after much dilemma on my part. I did get a nap when we got home, and that made all the difference for the rest of the day. But it was still hard because my other option was to do a book group we've been doing, where the girls would see their brother.  Both good. And I knew John wouldn't mind either way - but my sister moral compass pulled me towards the band concert and that's where we ended up landing.

John was awarded most inspirational, so it was nice to be there for that. He is just the most awesome brother a girl could have.

Afterwards the weather was so nice that Steve and the kids played a half hour of tag before we got in the car for yet another long ride back home. We got home at 10 and everyone had fallen asleep in the car. But it was all worth it.