Phew!

Julie doesn't have to get another filling. That's a relief. That poor girl has been cursed with more cavities and subsequent fillings in her short life than I've had in my much longer life. The dentist didn't bother filling this one because it's about to fall out anyway. I hope her "adult" teeth are a little stronger than her baby ones have been.

For some reason I can't explain, there are few things that make me feel more like a failure as a parent than a child's visit to the dentist. ESPECIALLY when their teeth are rotting away. I know I'm being paranoid, but every time the dentist looks in her mouth and finds more cavities, I just feel so JUDGED. Surely I'm a horrible parent if I let them eat too much sugar and don't teach them good dental hygiene. And when she sits there, trying so hard to be brave and fighting back the tears as the dentist gives her a needle in her little mouth, I want to cry too. Couldn't I have done SOMETHING to help her avoid this pain?

Fortunately, this time Marcel took her to the dentist, and I didn't have to suffer the humiliation. But yet again I vow to work on improving their dental hygiene - a vow that will probably last as long as it takes me to type this post.