Clean and serene

My kids had a great visit with the dentist on Monday, and what are the odds of that? It was teeth-cleaning day, and there would have been a time when I'd have bet money we'd be escorted out of the place and told never to return. My daughter, the one who used to react with drama to every little pain, sitting quietly while her teeth were scraped and sprayed until her gums bled? My son, who used to flee from every touch, letting the dentist hang over him and put things in his mouth? My kids, who required the pediatrician to call in extra staff to hold them down when they needed shots, tolerating sharp objects? Nope, not likely. But there they were, both behaving like there was nothing to it and calmly emerging with their toothbrushes and their bright shiny smiles and everybody's nerves intact. Heck, I whined more about having my teeth cleaned than they did.

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. Dentist visits have always been a pretty low-stress experience for them, and I've been at a loss to figure out why. I'd decided it involved some sort of magical powers by our old dental practice, some sort of snake-charming ability of the dental hygeinist there to entrance my skittish little ones. When we switched to a practice closer to our home, I though -- well, this is it. The magic will be gone. The dentist won't know the tricks. The kids will react differently in a different office. The screams will be heard 'cross town. But again, no fuss, no muss, no stress, no worries. How lucky can you get?