Top Ten Reasons Never To Bring Your Kids To The Dentist With You

I normally go to the dentist on Tuesday nights, the only day of the week they have evening hours. However, I had a cleaning that I had to reschedule back in November, because Charlie's first quarter parent/teacher conference fell on the same night. It was rescheduled but they didn't have an evening appointment until March, when lo and behold I had to cancel again due to Charlie's 2nd quarter parent/teacher conference which again fell on the same night. Rather than wait another four months for an evening appointment I just decided to suck it up and take the first available appointment they had, which was today at 3:30 and meant that I had to take both kids with me.

So after the horrendous experience that ensued, I am here to report on the top ten reasons NEVER to bring your kids to the dentist with you!

10. You can't yell at them with your mouth open and full of instruments.
9. They continually ask the dental hygienist for crayons and toys.
8. They expect to receive toothbrushes, floss and toothpaste even though they are not the patients.
7. By far the most interesting things in the exam room are sharp or have wires.
6. You can't chase after them when they decide to leave the exam room and go to the bathroom 800 times a piece.
5. They suddenly become unable to talk about anything except how much candy/junk food they are allowed to have.
4. The exam room floor probably isn't clean enough to be rolling around on and the doorstop is definitely not clean enough to put in one's mouth.
3. They expect to be rewarded for their terrible behavior with prizes from the prize bucket even though, again, they are not patients.
2. One of them has a big mouth and proceeds to tell the dentist, "Mommy forgot to brush my teeth today, and last week too!"
1. The receptionists give you EXTREMELY dirty looks when one of your kids mistakes the emergency exit for the bathroom.

Needless to say, my next appointment is scheduled for a Tuesday night so I don't have to take the kids with me again!!