At any rate, he seemed okay with it from then on. We brought along his Leapster and a few cars, and he sat quietly and happily for my entire exam/cleaning.
When it was his turn, he sat in the chair on his own (the last time, he sat on my lap) with his little sunglasses and did whatever the hygienist asked. He did so great! And he was rewarded with a Mater (from Cars) toothbrush. I'm telling you, these dentists don't mess around - they go straight the 4 star freebie toothbrushes.
The hygienist and I showered him with praise, but I guess that wasn't enough. On the way home, he asked from the back seat, "Mommy, do you want to tell me something?"
I said, "No, I don't think so - why?"
"Something about how I did at the dentist?"
"OH! Ben, I am very proud of how you did so well at the dentist."
"Thank you, mommy!"
(Another Benism - the other day, he was particularly crabby with Adam, and kept saying he didn't want to sit near him, because he smelled like hazelnuts. HAZELNUTS! How does the kid even know what those are, or smell like for that matter? Not to mention that Adam did NOT smell like hazelnuts. We finally figured out that it was the peppermint-scented diaper ointment I'd been putting on him that day. Hazelnuts. Whatever, kid.)
About 45 minutes after returning home from the dentist, Ben and I headed to school to pick up Leah. Because it's been raining for oh, about 20 days now the kids were in the gym, AGAIN, and that's about the only time Ben really gets to run around, so I like to let him for awhile.
Anyway, we headed back home when the students were ready for lunch. After scarfing some lunch, I headed to my friend Grace's house to help clean their house in preparation for moving. Floors were scrubbed, a hallway vacuumed, some laundry folded (and some more brought home to dry at my house!) and then I zoomed back home again, for an hour or so, until it was time to take Leah to gymnastics.
Are you getting the flavor of this day yet? Too much driving, too much running around, not enough sitting with my family or cleaning up after them. Fortunately, Aaron was home today to pick up some of the slack, like feeding that stubborn baby of ours, who has decided he'd much rather feed himself, thankyouverymuch. Except that he's still pretty limited in his diet of "real" food. Anyway.
I took Ben with me to gymnastics, thinking that Adam would nap while we were gone and Aaron could get some non-kid time. That was a nice dream, anyway! Ben was once again super at gymnastics, and even said that he LIKED gymnastics again, and wanted to do it again. Poor kid is missing out on soccer because of the rain, and I'm not signing him up for gymnastics again until fall. ANYWAY. I think his good behavior at the dentist and gym may have something to do with that Leapster. He even makes sound effects for the cars in the game! That is SUCH a boy thing, it made me giggle listening to him.
We got home from gymnastics, and right away Leah changed and I wrapped a gift for the birthday party she was attending at Chuck E. Cheese's at 5:30pm. Thank goodness soccer was cancelled - that was supposed to be at 6pm.
After I dropped Leah off at the party, we ate our dinner of frozen pizza, and Aaron went to Menards, taking Ben with him. I bathed Adam, cleaned up a bit, and took the baby with me to pick up Leah from the party.
When Aaron got home, he reported that Ben had not complained even once the whole time they were shopping! This, along with the day's previous exemplary behavior from the little guy, PLUS the fact that he pooped in the potty again - just one attempt, no change of undies needed! - means that today is one for the record books.
Ben, you do indeed make your Mommy proud.
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What is your trick to keep your kids happy in a less than ideal situation? How has your kid made you proud lately?
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2 comments:
Goooooooooo Ben-o!!
During my first hands-on with an iPad this week, I got into a discussion with co-workers on whether it was age appropriate for 5 year olds. I would have a lot less anxiety with a pre-schooler dropping a Leapster than with an iPad...especially if it was MY iPad. Etch-a-sketches were relatively durable and fun back in the 1960s.
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