Fold My Laundry Please

Tuesday morning I had a dentist appointment.  I am afraid of the dentist.  My appointment was to have to cavities filled; you know, drilling and such.  The very thought of which filled me with terror.  Sunday evening I had looked at the calendar and noticed the appointment.  I resolved to find a sitter for that morning so that I could quake with fright in peace.  By Monday afternoon, I had procrastinated finding a sitter until it was now considered rude for me to call someone.  Too bad.  I would just have to cancel the appointment.  The dentist’s receptionist informed me, however, that since I was the only appointment that entire morning, the kids could sit in the lobby and color and one of the hygienists would keep an eye on them for me.  Oh.  Good.  Back to shivering in my boots.  Have I mentioned I’m afraid of the dentist? 

Because I’m a complete and total coward, I woke up Tuesday determined to call the receptionist, tell her the kids were sick, and cancel the appointment.  I would simply make an appointment at a new dentist once we were all settled in after we moved.  I picked up the phone and hesitated.  In that brief moment of hesistation, I realized that if I cancelled this appointment, I would never make a new one.  I mean, it took me close to a decade just to get myself into the dentist for a check up.  Getting actual dental surgery, minor though it may be?  It would never get done.  So I hopped in the shower, got the kids ready, promised them McDonald’s if they were good and headed off for the dentist. 

I walked into the office, sat in the chair, was positioned so that all the blood ran to my head, and the procedure commenced.  The dentist filled my mouth with cotton wadding and then told me that we would try this without any novacaine.  The cavities were small, and the whole thing would be over quicker if they didn’t have to wait for novacaine to kick in.  Wait.  What?!?!  Without novacaine?  WITHOUT NOVACAINE!  That was when I realized why this man didn’t have any other appointments that morning.  He was clearly a sadist.  But, as I’ve pointed out before, I’m a chicken when it comes to dentistry.  Unable to stand up for myself, try it without novacaine I did.  The first tooth had me jumping at a few minor zings, but wasn’t too bad really.  The second tooth, however, made me want to cry like a little girl.  Novacaine was administered, and the process continued, without waiting for the novacaine to fully take effect.  Like I said, the man is a sadist.

The children were all incredibly well behaved, infant included.  So off to McDonald’s we went.  I pulled into the drive-thru (had to avoid that playground), placed our order, and was heading towards the house when the novacaine kicked in.  Dismayed though I was that I would soon be dribbling soda and french fries down my chin due to the right side of my face being completely numb, I’m thoroughly relieved to have gotten my teeth taken care of finally.  So the moral of the story is that if you take ten years to get yourself to the dentist instead of going every six months as recommended, you’ll most likely need more work done that just a simple cleaning.  And when you get that more extensive dental work done, it most assuredly won’t be fun.  Lesson learned.  I’ll definitely only wait 5 years to schedule my next dental checkup.