D is for…
The other day Riley went to the dentist.
Before I go on with that I must give you some background. Riley has out right refused to go to the dentist for some four years now. His last experience was, shall we say, H – E – Double hockey sticks. Not good, not good at all.
Riley has recounted the event to me several times over the past four years. The last version went something like this (as told to Riley’s mother (me) by Riley at age 8): When he first walked into the room the dentist was waiting, drill in hand, revving it at every opportunity, watching Riley cross the room to the exam chair. As Riley sat down he was immediately harnessed by steel cuffs that trapped his arms and legs. He could not move, fear froze his poor heart. He had no idea what would happen next. The dentist slowly moved toward him, flashed a devious grin in his general direction and pried his mouth open with a very large crowbar. The dentist, seeing that there was indeed a cavity, rubbed his hands together, snapped on his extra large rubber gloves and pulled out the largest needle Riley had ever seen (approximately 6 feet in length). Riley could hardly believe his eyes. He shouted “you’re not going to put that in my mouth.” To which the villainous dentist laughed an evil laugh grabbed the crowbar and walked toward him – 6 foot needle in one hand, crowbar in the other. Riley began to scream “You can’t, you can’t.” The dentist sneered at him and told him to shut up. And just as Riley was erupting with his final scream the dentist shoved the needle into his mouth. Riley could not believe what was happening and from the corner of his eye he saw what looked to be the biggest wrench he had ever seen. Slowly the dentist picked it up, flipped it over a time or two and opened its nasty jaws. Then Riley blanked out. He could remember no more until the very end when he said to me that he was sure he could smell smoke and sulphur and if he remembers correctly there were horns on the top of the dentist’s head. He thinks that the dentist might have even reached for what looked like a red pitchfork from behind his chair but he is not quite sure about that part. But that long pointy, red tail; well, that’s something Riley will never forget. To Riley it is no coincident that D-E-ntist and D-E-vil start with the same two letters. He’s quite sure that was planned.
As you can see the dentist was quite a cause for concern and Riley being the gentle spirited chap that he is insisted that he never, ever, not one more time go to the dentist again (at least not without body armour and his special sword from Toys R Us). So this has been the fight over the past several years until a few months ago when another cavity showed up and began to bother him. I would slowly drop hints about going to the D—-. We had found a different dentist who seemed to be quite good with children, (at any rate didn’t pull out his pitchfork in front of them!) And Riley refused. He refused and refused until one day I stood up for all dentists in this world and said “That’s enough! You will go and you will go when I tell you to.” Riley looked shocked but agreed. Of course I looked stunned myself after his agreement thinking I should have tried that years ago.
So I made the appointment and Riley went. And when Riley returned he told me of how they had rolled out clouds for him with a special harp. Everything was white and shiny. He even got to keep a feather from their wings! But the best part, he tells me, is that they talked to him, made him feel special, like he was important. They also told him that he needed to come back real soon and get his cavities taken care of.
He was nervous of course, thinking of previous D-E-ntist (or vil) experiences the night before he tossed and turned. He asked to sleep in our bed, he needed comfort. As he was laying there and I was talking with him we had this interesting little conversation:
Riley: Mom, I’m scared.
Mom: You don’t have to worry, your tooth will feel much better after it’s taken care of.
Riley: But mom, I have these …..memories. From last time.
Mom: Riley, What does your name mean?
Riley: I know.
Mom: Tell me, what does it mean?
Riley (very, very hesitantly): courage
Mom: Now Riley, you cannot have courage unless you are facing fear. There’s no way around it.
Riley: Well, I’m not feeling it.
After this discussion Riley fell asleep. In the morning as he was getting ready to leave I noticed the word on his jacket. I pointed it out to him.
It said “Courage”.
So Riley left with his dad to go meet the dentist. I was fully anticipating a phone call from the dentist office telling me my child had gone AWOL, that they could not restrain him, or possibly that he was acting like a rabid animal and they were afraid that he might bite someone. I did not receive this phone call.
Several hours later Riley and his dad returned. Riley was in pain. The fillings hurt. But Riley had been courageous. He had gone into the room. He had faced his fears. He was stronger for it. I could see it on his face, something had changed. He had courage.
