the_rck | (no subject)

We'll be back at the dentist twice more for fillings. The x-rays showed a lot of unexpected cavities. This also means that Scott and I are going over how to brush teeth every day with Cordelia and are making her take about five times as long over it as she wants to.

Her six year molars are hurting her. Saturday, she took a bite of bread and started crying because it touched where one of the teeth is coming through. Poor kid.

Right now, she looks a bit lopsided. Half of her face is still numb. She's been nagging me to tell her when her face is better. I've pointed out that she'll *feel* it, but she wants magic. She was very good for the two fillings we did today. She did what the dentist told her to, and the dentist has a very good manner for dealing with kids.

I was pleased by that. I sat and watched the whole thing, crocheting the whole time. The dentist later told me that some kids do better with parents and some don't. She said that she doesn't try to set a single policy because of that but instead waits to see how each kid seems to be. Cordelia's better with me there.

We got lucky today. C. works at the county courthouse and so had today off. She drove us both ways. Next week, Scott will be on vacation and will be able to take us in. The appointment the week after that may not be needed if Cordelia's up to a lot of fillings at once (the dentist said that, while she *can* do that many that fast, she wants the second appointment in case Cordelia can't handle sitting and being cooperative for long enough all at once).

I'd like to do something special for the girl as a congratulations for being brave. I have no idea what. If she weren't grounded, a meal out would do it (though I'm worried that that would be a bad precedent for various reasons even if she weren't grounded). That's not an option, and I don't want anything sugary. I think Scott's going to get her some stickers or a small book or a small toy or some such.

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I remember receiving a tiny teddy bear for letting the dentist pull out a milk tooth that was not falling out properly. Of course it generally took three people to hold me down in the chair.

I don't want to add to our stuffed animal population. We've got more than a dozen scattered through her room.

Were you terrified of the dentist or just too energetic to sit still?

Terrified.

When I was little, usually no painkillers, and the drill was slower, therefore more painful.

Terrified six-year old has a lot of muscle power. All that andrenaline.

Aw, yeesh, poor kid! :( I'll try and send a postcard along soon.

My sister once got a very special stuffed animal for going through the operation to put tubes in her ears. She still has it; it's the only one she's taken with her to Seattle (Coco the bunny.)

I'm trying to avoid acquiring more stuffed animals. We have so many already, all nice.

She heard me talking to Scott and enthusiastically endorsed the idea of books. Scott got her two just at her current reading level, one fairy book and one Star Wars book.

I agree that it would be good to do something nice for her. When you're home with her this week, driving each other crazy, could the two of you do some brainstorming as to rewards she finds meaningful? It would be great to have a list of little things she regards as special treats. The local little girl really got into this a few years ago, when I showed her one of the books that was a special treat for *me*. We had some false starts, with her wanting to swim with dolphins or go on a dinosaur dig (which would be a really, really, special treat, I suppose...but not the kind of thing that fits between preschool and suppertime.) But she caught on, and was eventually pretty helpful.

It's harder for anybody to brainstorm what would be effective punishments, but she might have a few ideas for that as well.

She heard me talking to Scott and endorsed the idea of books as a reward. That makes me grin. She knows she'll get books anyway, but she's thrilled to get more. He picked up a couple of paperbacks at her current reading level, and she immediately sat down and read them.

I'll ask her in a few days about what punishments would work. I suspect she won't want to have that conversation, though. She's still trying to rewrite history so that she didn't have a tantrum, didn't get grounded, is grounded under different rules, anything.