Wednesday morning, before the Kinsky party, Sarah had an appointment at the orthodontist. She needed to have spacers put on her back teeth, to make room for the thingie to stretch out her upper palate. (He called it some bizarre name in German, and I had no clue what he was talking about until he started explaining how it would work.)
Anyway, after they put in the spacers they needed to make yet another mold of her mouth, but this time, "just" the upper jaw. They made it sound like a special treat, or something. eyeroll So, for those of you confused about my sarcasm, let me recap what happened the first time Sarah had to get a mold of her mouth taken. She threw up. Everywhere. On herself. On the chair. On both Dental Assistants. On the floor. On the instrument/light stand. It was quite spectacular. So, the next time she had to have it done, they made her suck on this disgusting tasting pill that was supposed to numb her throat muscles and make it impossible for her to throw up. It didn't work. She didn't cover quite as much ground because I didn't let her eat anything before the appointment, but she still gagged and threw up a bit.
So, since she hated the pill, and threw up whether she had it or not, I decided to let her get the mold without the pill. We had been practicing breathing through her nose, not her mouth, and touching the back of her upper throat with the tooth brush to try and calm down her gag reflex. I didn't know if it would work, but I was willing to let her try. She really, really hated those pills, and felt like they made it worse, not better.
When we walked in the door, we were all of 3 minutes late, according to the clock in my car, which is set with the radio, which is set by whatever Swiss precision timing they use to figure out these things. So, you know, pretty darn accurate. :) One of the three receptionists looks down her nose at us, while holding open a file and says, "Ah yes, Sarah Charles. The appointment was for 9:45." And looks pointedly at the clock on the wall, which is set 5 minutes ahead of the time I had just seen in my car. I just looked at her and said, "Right, that's why we are here now." Then receptionist number 2 asks if I have given her the non-magic numbing pill already. I honestly tell her that no, Sarah hated the pill last time, and really wanted to try not using it. That we had been practicing, and we both were confident she would be okay. And then she was off.
She started in about how it was very important that Sarah take those pills. How it didn't matter if they tasted gross, we all have to do things we don't like. The assistants don't like it very much when they get thrown up on. It isn't fair to them, and I need to do what they say. If she had just said that, I probably would have been okay. But no, she just kept going on and on and on, repeating the same things over and over and over again. For several minutes. Really, you're ticked because I'm three minute late, but yet you have time to rake me over the coals for another 5? How important is it really that I show up exactly on time? Especially considering that we ALWAYS have a wait!?!?! So, I decided that if she could give it that well, she could certainly take it. I interrupted her mid-sentence by saying, " Are you finished? Excellent!" And turned and walked away from her into the waiting room. From the corner of my eye, I could see her huffing and puffing and full of indignation, and receptionist #1 literally dropped her jaw. But I think my response was relatively mild, compared to what I was imagining doing to them. evil grin And considering that their salary gets paid out of the money I pay to the orthodontist, which is no small change, I definitely think they could have made their point without being so disrespectful.
After that, the rest of the appointment was relatively uneventful. The orthodontist came in, put the spacers on in about 10 seconds, and then a different assistant came in to make the mold. Sarah did great, for quite a while. But they have to leave the mold goo in your mouth for about 30 seconds, and she could only hold it back for 20. Still, it wasn't much, just a tiny amount on the paper bib, and they had a bowl right there to catch anything else, but they didn't need it. I think it was important for her to try, and now whenever I tell her she needs to take the pill, she won't fight me because she knows it does help a bit, no matter how nasty it tastes.
We walked back out the door, and receptionist number 2 tried to give me a cheery goodbye, but I refused to look her in the eye and slammed the door a bit as we left. Immature, yes, but seriously, she caught me on a really bad day, and is lucky I had enough self control not to reach over the counter and slap her one. And we had to go back in less than a week. Ugh! If the doctor wasn't so darn awesome with Sarah, and the assistants who actually work on her mouth so kind and friendly, I would have left for good and found another orthodontist. But, as it is, I will just grin and bear it in my dealings with the front desk, and hope my contact with them can be as limited as possible.