And how was YOUR day?
Looks like I am tardy with yet another update, but things have been going pretty well for the boy child. Since the ARD meeting he's been visiting with the school counselor once a week and he really likes her and says that she's helping him with some "good ideas". So that's good. And the bully problem seems to be under control.
December is traditionally a rough month for the boy, I think because of all the excitement about the holidays and the changes to his routine. However, this month (so far) seems to be going well. It could be that he's just been so discombobulated since school started that I can't really tell a difference. But actually, it's the girl child who seems out of sorts this month -- much more sensitive and weepy and hyper than usual, and also tending to wear herself out and just crash in the evenings. I refuse to believe it's the first stirrings of puberty because she's only 8 and still very much a baby in many ways. And also because ... I just refuse to believe it. Denial ain't just a river in Egypt, you know.
ANYWAY, the big news about the boy child today is that he had a dentist appointment! Well, so did the girl, but taking her to the dentist is an absolute joy because she LOVES it. However, generally speaking I'd rather have my small intestine pulled out of my left nostril by an unskilled orangutan with bad breath and dirty fingernails than take the boy child to the dentist, especially if they're doing something different from the usual, as was the case today. Today, the kids were getting sealants put on their teeth. Whoopee!
The girl did great with it. She just lay there like a little statue and didn't make a peep while the hygienist poked around in her mouth. The cleaning and sealants together were over in 10 minutes, and she was done.
The boy child was a different story altogether. Like, a story from another book entirely. In a different library. In another state. He had gotten himself all worked up about the sealants, even though I explained to him what they were, why he needed them, how they would be applied, etc. and he got to watch the girl get hers. AND she told him it was "fun" and didn't hurt or taste nasty at all. Still, he had a full-blown panic attack and it took AN HOUR for him to get his teeth cleaned and get the sealants put on.
I'm proud of him, though, I have to say. He was scared to death but we convinced him to just do one and see what he thought. I promised him that if he thought it was the worst torture he'd ever been through, we would stop there for today (I did tell him, however, that he'd have to get the rest done the next time we went to the dentist). So he did one (and mind you, it took FOREVER just getting him to this point) and then decided he would go ahead and have another one done. After that one, though he was still VERY anxious and it took forever because he kept asking to take breaks, he consented to have the rest done. And so he left feeling VERY proud of himself and we made a big deal about how brave he was and how courage means doing what you have to do even if you're afraid.
So chalk one up for self-esteem, but my liver gets a demerit because it's going to take a lot of martinis to erase the memory of this particular dentist appointment from my mind. I swear, our hygienist is a saint. She is SO good with the boy and so patient with him, even though an appointment with him takes much longer than an appointment with an "average" kid. I should totally buy her a big honkin' Christmas present. Or maybe give her a kidney or some other redundant organ.
December is traditionally a rough month for the boy, I think because of all the excitement about the holidays and the changes to his routine. However, this month (so far) seems to be going well. It could be that he's just been so discombobulated since school started that I can't really tell a difference. But actually, it's the girl child who seems out of sorts this month -- much more sensitive and weepy and hyper than usual, and also tending to wear herself out and just crash in the evenings. I refuse to believe it's the first stirrings of puberty because she's only 8 and still very much a baby in many ways. And also because ... I just refuse to believe it. Denial ain't just a river in Egypt, you know.
ANYWAY, the big news about the boy child today is that he had a dentist appointment! Well, so did the girl, but taking her to the dentist is an absolute joy because she LOVES it. However, generally speaking I'd rather have my small intestine pulled out of my left nostril by an unskilled orangutan with bad breath and dirty fingernails than take the boy child to the dentist, especially if they're doing something different from the usual, as was the case today. Today, the kids were getting sealants put on their teeth. Whoopee!
The girl did great with it. She just lay there like a little statue and didn't make a peep while the hygienist poked around in her mouth. The cleaning and sealants together were over in 10 minutes, and she was done.
The boy child was a different story altogether. Like, a story from another book entirely. In a different library. In another state. He had gotten himself all worked up about the sealants, even though I explained to him what they were, why he needed them, how they would be applied, etc. and he got to watch the girl get hers. AND she told him it was "fun" and didn't hurt or taste nasty at all. Still, he had a full-blown panic attack and it took AN HOUR for him to get his teeth cleaned and get the sealants put on.
I'm proud of him, though, I have to say. He was scared to death but we convinced him to just do one and see what he thought. I promised him that if he thought it was the worst torture he'd ever been through, we would stop there for today (I did tell him, however, that he'd have to get the rest done the next time we went to the dentist). So he did one (and mind you, it took FOREVER just getting him to this point) and then decided he would go ahead and have another one done. After that one, though he was still VERY anxious and it took forever because he kept asking to take breaks, he consented to have the rest done. And so he left feeling VERY proud of himself and we made a big deal about how brave he was and how courage means doing what you have to do even if you're afraid.
So chalk one up for self-esteem, but my liver gets a demerit because it's going to take a lot of martinis to erase the memory of this particular dentist appointment from my mind. I swear, our hygienist is a saint. She is SO good with the boy and so patient with him, even though an appointment with him takes much longer than an appointment with an "average" kid. I should totally buy her a big honkin' Christmas present. Or maybe give her a kidney or some other redundant organ.
posted by Miss Anthrope at 3:54 PM
