tooth & consequences

This week was a doozy. My son had his first dentist appointment, and of course me being the diligent tooth brusher that I am, thought the only thing I had to worry about was my son flailing around in the dentists chair and getting his mouth cut by those sadistic little weapons they pass off as "tools". Turns out getting a little scratch on his mouth was the last thing I needed to worry about, because my two and a half year old has a CAVITY! I could not believe my ears when the dentist told me. Of course my first inclination was to argue with him..."I brush he's teeth twice a day, dilute his juice with water, blah blah blah..." however seeing as how I detest those parents who make excuses for everything bad that happens and are content to live in denial, I backed off. So I let the weapon wielding man in the white coat explain why I am such an epic failure as a parent. He didn't use those words of course, in fact he implied that it was fairly common and nothing to get too worked up about...but in my head all I could hear was "failure". So after about a half an hour of sitting on an uncomfortable stool with my arms crossed, trying not to shoot the messenger, we left. When I got home I did what any objective, rational, normal parent would do...I completely freaked out. Emptied all the cupboards threw out any and everything with sugar, made our home a “juice free zone” and brushed my sons teeth…about 6 times. After I calmed down…and to be honest, after I realized I would have to throw away the “potty treats” I aborted my mission, sat down, and read the information packet the dentist gave me. As it turns out, purging the kitchen of all sweets would have essentially been futile; the amount of sugar that is needed to cause cavities is in EVERYTHING, including milk. So after a little moping, complaining, and reflecting on my parenting skills, I decided to just roll with the punches. Not much I can do about the cavity that’s already there (except of course obviously filling it) the only thing I can do is try and prevent any more occurrences. It’s a bit of a humbling experience, just when you think you’ve got this whole parenting thing down, you get knocked on your ass…or should I say you get your teeth knocked out?