Drake and I got up early Friday morning for a dental appointment in San Francisco at the UCSF campus. I loaded the car with all the essentials like changes of clothes, medication, Drakes favorite books, snacks, back pack, and the stroller/wheelchair. After a whirlwind breakfast mess success we jumped in the car. We were exhausted from the long week. Drake still has trouble sleeping at night. Thursday night I slept in his trundle bed to help the little man settle down for the night which he finally did at 1:45 a.m. So here we are in the car me jacked up on a great cup of coffee and Drake on 5 chocolate covered coffee beans headed out of our sleepy town. Some where around Hwy 29 Drake realizes we are not on the way to school. He looks out the window at the passing scenery and I think he is excited. After all I am The Pied Piper of Fun!
The UCSF campus is vast and if you do not know where you are going you will be lost quickly. Not a good place to be clueless when your child is a behavioral time bomb. I know exactly where I am going because this is our 3rd visit to see Dr. Jay at the dental clinic. He is the man I have to thank for fixing my son’s broken smile. Drake fell down at a babysitter’s house on his face and broke his front adult tooth. It did not seem to hurt him, but every time I looked at my child, I saw a broken tooth and it made me sick to my stomach. The uneasy feeling in my gut was a heap of sadness for all the broken things that I can’t seem to fix for him. Dr. Jay gave me back my son’s smile by fixing his front tooth. He explained that it could break again and it would never be as strong as his original tooth. Now when Drake smiles at me, I see what is whole and good. Anyway we make it from the parking lot to the reception desk and there is a familiar friendly face to greet us. In my experience of carting Drake around to see doctors, a friendly receptionist that remembers your name can uplift the experience. For Drake’s dental exam we use a thing called a papoose. It is a board with big velcro body straps to hold him down. I really like the papoose, because it means I do not have to hold him down (which is getting hard to do). Dr. Jay said that Drake’s teeth and gums continue to look excellent and that his teeth look better than some people that can brush their own teeth. There is just one small cavity that we will work on in July . . .
From here we head over to Golden Gate Park. We go to a huge play ground just before the Japanese Tea Gardens. Drake does not explore. He is content to walk a few feet and sit down in the sand. He methodically sifts sand in his fingers with his little shovel for what feels like an eternity. After about 30 minutes I find my self falling asleep. We move on from here to the Exploratorium. We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring this amazing place. Drake got to press buttons, witness interesting visual effects, touch vibrating sand and much more. We had a really nice day and I am looking forward to going back really soon.
Next time we will go earlier and make our way across the road to Chrissy Field and put our feet in the ocean.
I often seem to share our challenges. Today I just wanted to share our nice day.