This evening has ended with a good long session of baby crying, as usual. I try not to get uptight, but my nerves just don't do well with it. After a tiring day, the last thing needed is an extra fussy-pants who is also overtired in yet won't sleep. So, she's in the swing right now, and I'm hoping it will convince her to sleep since I've been unable to thus far. (tried the baby massage tonight, it didn't seem to make a difference, but I will keep it up just in case it does in the future)
Tonight I'm going to write about something extremely boring and mundane. Something that needs some attention now and then, since it is so boring in yet ever so important. And that is oral hygiene.
Although I do understand the importance of good oral hygiene, I can't get all excited about the mundane tasks it requires each day. The dentists always seem to think that I (and I'm sure I'm not the only one in this category) totally overlook my responsibility as a human being, because I find teeth and everything to do with them is rather boring. The seldom times I do go to the dentist, I get in trouble for not flossing, but just can't seem to make it happen at home. I floss very seldom, so when I do, my gums always hurt, and then I have to quit after one session, to give them time to recover. When they do recover, I've forgotten that I was supposed to be faithfully flossing so then another many months go by before I remember again. Flossing just never reaches the top of the priority list.
You might say that brushing teeth doesn't really take that much time, and it's no big deal to just do it. That is true, except that I've found that I'm always in a hurry, and now that I have 2 boys' teeth to brush too, I'm even more frustrated by this daily drudgery. We got one of those fancy toothbrushes with the timer, and I hate it because I never want to brush as long as it wants me too. If my teeth are clean, why do I have to keep brushing until it beeps? (such bondage!) And then kids mouths...they are so small, and those teeth are so much smaller. And then I wonder is all the brushing and flossing worth anything, when their baby teeth are all going to fall out anyways. That makes me want to brush them even less.
Back in my nursing days, I never minded brushing my patients teeth in the nursing home, because you just popped them out of their mouth, brushed them and put them back in. Lickety split. Not so with my kiddos. Tip their head back, brush all those little nooks and crannies, floss if you really feel enthusiastic, teach them to SPIT the paste out instead of swallow (been working on that with a 2 year old for many months now), and then hope you got them all, but you never really know.
When I took L to the dentist the last time, I got the big lecture that I was an extremely neglectful parent because I hadn't brought my child in before he was 4 years old. Truthfully I wanted to wait until he was old enough to sit still and listen, and I wasn't too concerned, as we weren't having any problems. After the dentist degraded me for having so many kids, and then degraded me for not bringing L in earlier, he had nothing but glowing reports on L's teeth. "You must brush his teeth thoroughly every day" "you must eat healthy" "he has great looking teeth" etc. So even though I won't go back to that dentist due to his lack of tact most of all, I felt a teensy bit better for all that stupid effort I put into brushing my kids teeth every night. Someday they'll be able to do it themselves, the baton will be passed, and then I'll be back to just worrying about my own (if you can call my complete disinterest "worrying"). Whew.
Tonight I'm going to write about something extremely boring and mundane. Something that needs some attention now and then, since it is so boring in yet ever so important. And that is oral hygiene.
Although I do understand the importance of good oral hygiene, I can't get all excited about the mundane tasks it requires each day. The dentists always seem to think that I (and I'm sure I'm not the only one in this category) totally overlook my responsibility as a human being, because I find teeth and everything to do with them is rather boring. The seldom times I do go to the dentist, I get in trouble for not flossing, but just can't seem to make it happen at home. I floss very seldom, so when I do, my gums always hurt, and then I have to quit after one session, to give them time to recover. When they do recover, I've forgotten that I was supposed to be faithfully flossing so then another many months go by before I remember again. Flossing just never reaches the top of the priority list.
You might say that brushing teeth doesn't really take that much time, and it's no big deal to just do it. That is true, except that I've found that I'm always in a hurry, and now that I have 2 boys' teeth to brush too, I'm even more frustrated by this daily drudgery. We got one of those fancy toothbrushes with the timer, and I hate it because I never want to brush as long as it wants me too. If my teeth are clean, why do I have to keep brushing until it beeps? (such bondage!) And then kids mouths...they are so small, and those teeth are so much smaller. And then I wonder is all the brushing and flossing worth anything, when their baby teeth are all going to fall out anyways. That makes me want to brush them even less.
Back in my nursing days, I never minded brushing my patients teeth in the nursing home, because you just popped them out of their mouth, brushed them and put them back in. Lickety split. Not so with my kiddos. Tip their head back, brush all those little nooks and crannies, floss if you really feel enthusiastic, teach them to SPIT the paste out instead of swallow (been working on that with a 2 year old for many months now), and then hope you got them all, but you never really know.
When I took L to the dentist the last time, I got the big lecture that I was an extremely neglectful parent because I hadn't brought my child in before he was 4 years old. Truthfully I wanted to wait until he was old enough to sit still and listen, and I wasn't too concerned, as we weren't having any problems. After the dentist degraded me for having so many kids, and then degraded me for not bringing L in earlier, he had nothing but glowing reports on L's teeth. "You must brush his teeth thoroughly every day" "you must eat healthy" "he has great looking teeth" etc. So even though I won't go back to that dentist due to his lack of tact most of all, I felt a teensy bit better for all that stupid effort I put into brushing my kids teeth every night. Someday they'll be able to do it themselves, the baton will be passed, and then I'll be back to just worrying about my own (if you can call my complete disinterest "worrying"). Whew.
