A field trip to the dentist

Ethan's teacher (Jennifer Stegeman) arranged a field trip to a dentist office in Renton. The name of the office is The Kids Dentist. I must say, we had a really great time... well, Ethan and I did. Evan was in usual form... angry at the world and upset that we had to be there. Quite frankly, he embarrassed me most of the trip. The staff there went out of their way to be nice to him and he constantly got angry and was rude, saying things like, "I don't WANT to do that" and "I HATE THIS PLACE!" It took everything in me to remain calm and patient with him. I wanted to haul him out to the car and leave him there, but that wasn't an option. I couldn't leave Ethan because he needs nearly CONSTANT reminders not to touch things and to stay out of things he shouldn't be in. He does well, he just needs to be reminded. At one point, I sat Evan down on the ground and made him stay there. UGH...

Aside from that behavior, we did have a good time. Ethan really got into things. A couple of months ago, we had a science lesson on the mouth and he must've retained something because when the doctor asked a question about the teeth, Ethan proudly answered, "The parts are the crown, enamel, and root! I floss my roots!" That elicited good chuckles from the staff. He was also eager to announce that we had just been to the dentist, that his brother had cavities, and that it was going to "cost my mom and dad millions of dollars!"

The boys got to watch an animated video about dental superheroes. Then they toured the office and then got to use the dental alginate to make thumb casts. Then they got to don mask, gloves, and goggles and use a dental mirror to peer at teeth in each others' mouths. It was fun. All in all a good trip and it certainly helped to solidify Ethan's resolve to keep his teeth brushed to avoid the nasty cavity critters!

Here are some pictures from our day: