clean sweep/ first dental visit

I swept up quite a large pile of dirt, cereal, etc in the kitchen today. It's a chronic problem due to our muddy yard and Sim's enjoyment of throwing her food on the floor. So, I stepped out of the kitchen for a moment for something or other and when I came back the floor was clean. Ro was standing there with the broom and a big grin on his face. He said, " Look Mommy! The floor's all clean!" I thanked him and told him he did a good job and then I asked him where all the dirt was. He didn't say anything but he got down on his hands and knees and peered under the refrigerator. sigh. Very funny but now I need to move the fridge.

Ro had his first trip to the dentist on Monday and it went better than I expected. He can turn into a whirling, screaming, thrashing wreck in such situations, so I was quite nervous about it. He was a mixed bag of crazy and cooperative, but never super crazy. So, it basically evened out. I really can't emphasis enough the importance of proper preparation beforehand in order to survive these sorts of things. In other words, we played dentist quite a bit and got him a few dental related books. He seemed almost excited about going on Sunday night but by Monday morning, he didn't want to go anymore. I eventually got him on board with the idea. It didn't last long though because he ran screaming down the hall as soon as he saw the exam room and caught a whiff of all the chemical/doctor sort of smells. He hates hospitals and all things medical - even if he's not the one being treated. So, I had to drag him kicking and screaming back into the room. I was filled with foreboding because our last trip to the doctor/radiologist for an abdominal x-ray was HARROWING. I was not looking forward to going through the same thing yet again. However, Ro surprised me. After a few minutes, he managed to get control of himself and alternately enjoyed himself or freaked out about things. He liked getting his teeth polished (tickled) and they let him spray jets of water with the water sprayer. Watching another boy undergoing treatment was also helpful. The nurses were kind, quick and efficient and they gave him a balloon which will always score you points in Ro's book. The nurses said the visit went pretty good and that he had an average three-year old response, so I felt sort of relieved. If we hadn't practiced though, it would've been a nightmare like our last doctor/x-ray visit. Overall, he was ok with the experience because he talked about it the rest of the day, wanted to play dentist the following morning and has since requested to go back several times. He's also much more keen about brushing his teeth. Takes it quite seriously now.