The Dentist, Regular Cleanings, And Big Families

Life was pretty easy when the kids were tiny and confined to those car seat buckets

. We could go anywhere, sit the bucket in any corner, and get on with business. Then, they grew up. As a mother of five, three of whom are triplets, every move I make is strategic. To include my husband and me, if we had a healthy year peppered by only regular checkups at the dentist and doctor, we would have twenty-one appointments. That is, short of a few breaks during the holidays, a medical appointment of some kind every other week. This is not a doable schedule in isolation. Add illnesses, speech therapy, cold season, allergies, and the inevitable injury, and we may as well set up shop in a waiting room somewhere.

It seems unconquerable to most, but, especially when working with the dentist, we book all five kids' appointments back to back on the same day. We went through a dental team or two before we found a doctor who agreed with our approach, and though it can sometimes get confusing for us, the parents (which kid has an impending cavity?), for the dentist, it really is not any different than having any five patients back to back in a day. The staff keeps meticulous notes labeled clearly with patient names.

So how do we survive this day in the life? By now, to us it is not a big deal, and since after a few hits and misses, we have a great provider who looks forward to our family's day in the office. We set out appointments four to six months out, and we stick to the last time slot of the day (okay time slots). If one of the exams takes a bit longer, the next patient is not offended with the wait because the next person is one of us.

In the beginning, the dentist would ask if there was a plan of attack on the order of operations, and we would push our daughter to the front of the line since she has the most issues with patience and anticipation, but now it is so routine that the kids do not care what line number they are given. We also stick to a predictable routine. When the kids and I pull up to the familiar parking lot, they know that daddy is meeting us there, that there is a corner full of special books, blocks, and games awaiting, and that this is one of the very few times that mom's and dad's smart phones will be showing the latest released kid flick downloads. The wait is so pleasant that I sometimes get to read a magazine, and again, since there are generally no others in the waiting room, I can read through the rambunctious sibling chaos without wondering what others think of my discipline techniques.

This strategy is one that we use for well-child visits to the pediatrician, speech therapy appointments, and even appointments for sick kids because, let's face it. If one kid has the snots, they all have some form of germ, so they may as well get in line.

by: Abigail Aaronson

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