Friday, November 4, 2022

Five Things Friday

Happy Friday! I'm working a half day today as daycare is closed in the afternoon for teacher training. I could try to juggle work and caring for the kids but it's just not worth it and hopefully it will be a quiet Friday afternoon at work anyways! But my morning won't be as I have 2.5 hours of meetings! Here's 5 things on my mind. 

1. We had a really nice Halloween! Our block met for a photo at 5:30 and then Paul, Will and I went to all the houses on our street. Obviously Will is not going to eat much of the candy he got but I wanted to take him around so the neighbors on our street could see him. Our street is on a hill so I had to carry him up and down many steps so was very happy to hand him off to dad when we were done with our block. He did charm people, though, as he said "tank you" at every house and sometimes blew kisses as we walked away. Paul and I were out for about an hour total and then he went out for 30 more minutes with Phil. 

A dinosaur and Chase from Paw Patrol

2. A couple of other bloggers have commented on their experiences with dentists recently so I had to share that I changed dental practices this month solely because the hygienist I was seeing was SOO TALKATIVE. I get that they are trying to establish a relationship with the patient but I can only handle so much chit chat, especially when it extends the length of the appointment and requires me to awkwardly attempt to answer questions while she was cleaning my teeth. I want to get out of there and back to my day as soon as possible. So I go to the new practice for my appointment this week and it turns out the hygienist moved to this location this summer! So I just have to let this go and deal with more small talk than I'd prefer

3. Speaking of the dentist, the hygienist and dentist were complimentary about the state of my teeth. But let me tell you - I had so many cavities as a child so dental visits were not always pleasant. Meanwhile, Phil has ZERO cavities. I think it's genetics, though, and I hope my kids got Phil's genes for oral health. I still brush Paul's teeth even though the dentist said he could do it once he can write his own name, which he can. But I want to prevent him getting cavities like I did so will keep brushing the boys' teeth until I'm confident they can do it on their own. I do serve as a great cautionary tale - I just open my mouth and let Paul look at at all my fillings. Also, I should note that I never had Novocain when I got all of those cavities/fillings. I had one cavity when I was in college and the dentist was floored that I had never had Novocain! Then when he used it for that cavity, I hated it and vowed to never get it again. I had to have a filling replaced several years ago and declined Novocain. The dentist I saw at the time in Charlotte said we could try to go without but she didn't see how I could get through the process without it. But sure enough I did. I guess I have a decent tolerance for pain. 

4. As I mentioned earlier this week, we've been pushing Will's bedtime back in anticipation of the end of DST. I am very skeptical it will work but I am desperate to do anything to avoid 4:30-5am'ish wakeups. On a good day, both of our boys sleep until 6am. If Will wakes before 6, we nearly always leave him in his crib until 6am to try to teach him that that is when the day starts. But if Paul is up early there is no convincing him to go back to bed (yes, we have an ok to wake clock, no it has not worked for him). Our kids are programmed to be up early since we leave the house at 6:45 on week days. So this is why I HATE the time change. If our kids weren't such early risers and, for example, were typically up at 7, it'd be fine because then our days would start at 6 while they adjusted to the time change. 6 is doable. But when your day starts at 5, it is the absolute worse - or at least for old, tired parents who need their sleep. Have I mentioned that parenting is a young man's game? Also, I travel Monday-Thursday of next week, so I feel extra motivated to try to avoid super early wake ups because it will all fall on Phil while I'm gone. The senate passed a bill to end daylight savings earlier this year and I hope the house does as well but I have little faith in that happening. But the area where my friend in upper BC lives doesn't observe DST and neither does AZ and it doesn't seem to matter so surely we could do away with this! *steps off soap box* 

5. We don't have much planned this weekend which makes me a little nervous. We have our usual library plus gymnastics on Saturday morning and Phil plans to take Paul out to his mom's on Sunday but that's it. Last week was the last Farmer's Market for the season so now our Sundays are open. Plus it might rain on Saturday, which we desperately need but that means being trapped indoors... I'm sure we'll figure it out, but I'll miss our farmer's market/park Sunday morning plans!


What's on your mind today? Have you had many cavities? Do chatty hygienist bother you or is it just me?

13 comments:

Nicole said...

I had cavities as a young kid, and then the city fluoridated the water, and I never had another one after that. I find that very interesting! My kids have never had a cavity. I think my husband did a lot, but he grew up in a different city in a different decade and I'm sure they didn't have fluoridation.

Well, a chatty hygienist...I'm a chatty person so I'm not sure this isn't some kind of vicious circle that makes my appointments so long! At my last one we were talking about yoga for knee issues.

Anonymous said...

I changed my hair salon one time due to a chatty receptionist that I didn't have the bandwidth to deal with.

Elisabeth said...

I never had any cavities until I was an adult; pregnancy changed my teeth and I had FOUR right after giving birth. So weird. My husband is like Phil. I think he had one cavity last year and it was the first in his life! But overall, I've had very good teeth (aside from needing to have 4 pulled when I was a kid because my baby teeth just wouldn't fall out).

My sister is a hygienist, but she's very good about reading the situation. She's also relentlessly efficient and moves people through quickly (but very competently). I really like the hygienist I have now (how happens to be married to my dentist!). My biggest frustration is when I leave and it feels like they did nothing to my teeth. I've had a few SUPER gentle hygeniests where it really did feel like nothing was any cleaner when I left (and had paid lots of money specifically TO have cleaner teeth).

I switched to a different hairdresser because I hated being in a salon full of people talking. My current hairdresser is independent and she's an introvert. It's perfect. We talk, but then we also can sit in comfortable silence. I LOVE this.

NGS said...

Our dentist has starting doing his own cleanings because they can't find a hygienists. I went earlier this week and I have to say that the dentist cleaning was not great. My teeth actually feel dirtier. How is that possible?

There's no way the House is going to pass a bill about DST, so I think we're stuck with it. Pets and children will be the death of all of us this weekend.

Jeanie said...

I didn't start getting cavities till my 40s. Go figure. I sometimes get the chatty hygenist. I like the other one better!

Grateful Kae said...

My dental hygienist has kids at my kids' school, but yet we don't "really" know each other well...she's very nice though. I actually like talking to her a lot and probably would enjoy chatting, but it's obviously very difficult while someone works on your mouth! She seems to have a good understanding of that though and doesn't ask a bunch of questions/ stays mostly quiet as appropriate. I did switch hair stylists though due to just not really liking my old stylist's personality. She was friendly enough, but I don't know- just kind of rubbed me the wrong way. I agree with Elisabeth's comment above- my new stylist has a private chair, and I SOOOOO much prefer this compared to sitting in a busy salon full of other people talking and getting their hair done. It's just so much more relaxing, and I love being able to discuss what I want, hair questions, etc. without having 3 people sitting and listening in too!

Jenny said...

I can't believe how many people have complained about having an over-talkative dental hygienist- I have that problem too! WHY??? Why do they think you want to talk while they're cleaning your teeth??? It makes no sense whatsoever. Your story is funny. Guess you're stuck with that one!
I grew up having novocaine for all my cavities, but in recent years have stopped having it. Guess what- you don't need it! yes, there's a little pain. But I'd rather have that than the pain from the shot and then all that numbness. My son also declines novocaine. Oh and I do think cavities are genetic- I had a ton as a kid, and my son gets cavities. But my daughter doesn't get them, and it's definitely not because of her diet or tooth brushing routine. She's just lucky.
I'm glad you had a nice Halloween. Hee hee... "tank you"... that's so cute.

coco said...

i also don't like when dentists/doctors do too much small talks because I'm not there to chat but to get things done. sometimes could be really annoying when I am in a rush. I like doctors that are kind, respond to questions concise but detailed enough for me to understand, not rushed but not talking about non-medical related things. sometimes pediatrician could be a bit more talkative as they meet new kids, to establish trust, but for adults, I just want to get over it.
early bedtime is hard, and I was really annoyed when I lived in the US when there's time change because it messes up with everyone's routine schedule. Oh well... I'm so glad that now I can just tell the girls to go back to their room for more sleep or reading when I need my morning alone time.

Taya Cassens said...

Oh gosh - How did I forget that it was daylight savings this week?!?!

Suzanne said...

LISA. You finally changed practices to avoid the hygienist and she was at the new practice?!?! This is like the beginning of a horror novel!

I remember so very well how awful the time change was when my kiddo was little. I wish you well. These days, it messes me up more than it does her, but I am still not looking forward to it. The only possible benefit is that maybe she will wake up for school a little more easily?

San said...

I am so glad my hygienist is not chatty. Super-nice, and we chat for like 2 minutes before he gets started, and then he zips it. I love that about him :) because who can have chitchat while keeping their mouth wide open. I can't believe you switched practices and the hygienist had also switched. OMG!

Stephany said...

I truly believe that good teeth/bad teeth fall COMPLETELY to genetics. You can take great care of your teeth and still get cavities, while others can do the bare minimum and never get cavities. I didn't really get cavities until I was in my 30s. Now it seems I have one at every appointment, which is super annoying.

I am looking forward to the extra hour of sleep tonight (perks of childlessness!) but not looking forward to the sky being pitch black at 6pm. Ugh.

Anne said...

Oh my gosh! Another person who HATES Novocain as much as I do! This is awesome! I thought I was the only one. I've gotten multiple crowns without Novocain and they always look at me rather skeptically (because, well, crowns are like fillings+++, if you don't have any and i hope you don't). I even tried to convince the endodontist that I didn't need it for a root canal, but lost that argument. I just hate having a numb mouth.

I hope hope hope that your plan for moving bedtime worked...and that your long week of travel went smoothly.