Thursday, February 09, 2006

Tomorrow is Friday!

Thursday at last! This is the last day of the work week in our office. These days I've been doing my dental assisting job four days a week instead of the two I usually do, thus not so many posts. By the end of the day I'm pretty beat. I work in a very busy orthodontic practice where we see about 60-70 kids and adults a day, one doctor four assistants.If anyone has had kids in braces you know an ortho office is very different from your regular dental office. Because so much of the technical stuff can be delegated and done by staff, that leaves the doctor free to be the thinker and delegator. For the most part we have great kids in our practice, and having worked there for almost 20 years I've seen a lot different personalities come through...both kids and their parents. I've seen kids that are quiet and shy but always cooperative, and some that are comfortable talking to anyone, even the stranger in the next chair. So we have a great vantage point for the study of child development AND parental guidance. Most parents have no problem letting their kids have work done on them without being right at their side, knowing this is a good skill for the kids to learn, independence. Yesterday I had a little girl who for whatever reason had decided she didn't like what we were doing and just wasn't going to open her mouth anymore. (We were trying to do something we had done several times in the past, nothing new) The parents were present(red flag); they begged, then they threatened, then they begged some more, then they tried to bribe with "if you do this we'll stop at mcdonalds and get a milkshake" but the little one was stubborn. It was SO OBVIOUS this kid was manipulating the parents, who, even though we accomplished nothing that day, probably stopped at mcdonalds anyway. They were so engaged in this dance, they had no idea what they sounded like. It's so hard to be a parent and know what to say when, and I totally believe a little bit of bribery (I prefer to call it reward) is alright...after all, aren't we all working towards some end? A cup of tea when I finish quilting this last section! A piece of chocolate and a sit down after I clean the house. I guess successful parenting comes when you know where to draw the line. Next week I'll post about some of the unofficial surveys I do with the kids, like how many tv's do you have in your house?

Tomorrow back to my fabric and maybe I can post some progress pictures!

4 comments:

Joanne S said...

We see this at the library where I work also. There are times--not very positive ones--when we wonder why these people were allowed to have children in the first place. This is the minority though.

We see lots of very successful parent/child relationships--it is the library after all--

Deborah Boschert said...

I must say I find myself doing that dance more often than I'd like. Sigh.

Unknown said...

I am a hygienist ( currently without a real job) and I see the same thing all the time....my challenge is how to learn how to turn these events into a teaching experience for the family (I have raised 4 kids and think I can bring some words of wisdom in) and be productive in the process...no one wins when there is nothing done and the family leaves only to return and repeat the process....I cannot imagine working in an ortho practice...my head would spin if I saw that many patients in a day ....I hope you get a chance to cut back on the work days and create art soon...Ginger

Elle said...

Ew. I hate when parents give in like that. It's so obvious the kid's working them over. Looking forward tot he surveys!