Mia opens a present

I had to post this because it illustrates how much fun Mia had during her birthday. She was excited over every single present she received. She would open the present and then her face would light up, as she would exclaim what the present was and how happy she was to receive it.

Having kids is a really great way to help you appreciate the joy of life.

So my oldest daughter Zoe’s class is having internship week–all of the students are to
arrange to intern at a local business. I called a friend and was able
to have Zoe intern at Kiss FM here in Dallas. They are owned by Clear
Channel, the largest radio broadcaster in the country. I had heard
rumors that Clear Channel had large scale layoffs scheduled for
Tuesday, but I had to treat this like I was a normal dad and just feign
ignorance–she had an internship to do, and I’m sure the people at the
station would be professional.

On Monday it couldn’t have been nicer. Zoe was treated like gold and
was able to visit a bunch of departments of the radio station. She
spent most of her time, however, checking out the studio, where a woman
named Priscilla was on the air. I went home thinking that the situation
wouldn’t be too bad.

So we go in on Tuesday, and my friend, who is the operations manager of
all the radio stations in Dallas, called me into his office and said
that it would probably be better that Zoe head home–the layoff
meetings were happening that day. So I explained what was happening and
we went home.

On Wednesday, we show up and we have to wait almost two hours because
the CEO had the entire staff pulled into a teleconference call
country-wide to discuss the previous day’s layoffs and moving forward.
Zoe’s teachers showed up to inspect her internship, and we had to tell
them what was happening while we waited. It was definitely one of
those, “Well, Zoe is seeing the reality pretty early” types of
conversations. The teachers handed Zoe a form for her supervisor, and
when asked who it was, Zoe said, “It’s Priscilla.”

Zoe stayed an extra two hours to make up for the late start, and when
she came home she was incredibly enthusiastic about the experience. She
truly had a great time, and I’m very thankful to Clear Channel and
Kiss. But one thing she said kind of depressed me. When I asked her if
she had given the form to Priscilla, Zoe answered in a sad voice, “She
was one of the people who were laid off.”

I finally cleared all the older videos off my N95 and also the newer videos I recorded with my iPhone (using Cycorder). You can check them out on my Kyte video channel, accessible via the video tab above.

Here I am taking the kids to the apartment gym. They don’t really exercise so much as play on the equipment. I think it is important for children to first and foremost love to do the things that are good for them.

So more than worry about doing things right I want them to think positively about exercising and the gym in general.

So Willow had been diagnosed by our family dentist with three cavities. For some reason our dentist doesn’t fill cavities, so Lea did some research for a good dentist. Lea doesn’t do anything halfway, so she found one of the best dentists in Dallas, one who can do cavities with a water laser and is renowned for his cosmetic denstistry–you know, the type that works with modeling agencies.

I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew it was the right place when I showed up ten minutes late and without the required paperwork. The receptionist simply nodded, said, “That’s okay. Do you want some coffee or juice or water?” Nice.

As soon as I finished the paperwork, the dental hygienist came out and took Willow and me for a tour of the entire office. We saw the consultation room, the hygiene area where they do cleaning, the areas where they do actual dental work, and even a photography area where they take photos of everyone’s “happy smiles” when they’re done.

During the tour I was introduced to everyone, and about halfway through the interview I was introduce to the dentist, Doctor Strader, who proceeded to escort us around for the rest of the tour.

Willow then was shown a dollhouse filled with toys, and she was told to “pick a few.” They were dollar store toys, but they were good dollar store toys. Willow picked a tic tac toe game with a whiteboard-type marker, a pair of sunglasses, and a pretend camera. The whole time the dental hygienist was telling Willow to “pick another one!”

Willow then was escorted back to a room where she had her X-rays, which were done on a high tech digital machine. I had expected the hygienist to come in and do a bunch of work or for us to wait, but immediately the dentist came in and started working on Willow’s teeth. However, he started by introducing Willow to the tools.

He said, “Here is my weather tool. Here’s the wind,” and then he blew air at Willow’s hair. She laughed. Then he said, “And now here’s the rain.” He then pushed another button and sprayed water into the air, landing on Willow’s face. She laughed again.

He then showed her the drill, which had a pair of lights. He showed off the lights, and then he showed Willow how the drill was for making you look better. He then asked Willow for her hand. He then proceeded to gently drill a smiley face into her thumbnail! Willow loved it.

I have NEVER seen a dentist with a better rapport with kids. Willow was screaming in the car on the way, and now here she was laughing over a dental drill.

The dental tech came in with the X-rays, and Dr. Strader asked me to come look at them. He then illustrated that Willow has three cavities, but they are all in between the teeth, and thus he is going to have to drill six teeth. He gently described to me how her issue wasn’t teeth brushing but probably a bit too much sugar and recommended cutting down on it.

He then said that the job was simple enough that he would prefer to use nitrous oxide. He said he would use it judiciously but would make sure Willow was always comfortable. I nodded my head and he went in to work on Willow. While I watched, I was once again offered a drink.

The dentist worked on Willow, and she didn’t cry once. Not one time. In fact, when it was all over, she said, “Again!” It was amazing.

Afterward, as I was checking out, the receptionist said Willow could have a compact-sized mirror with a light on it with the dentist’s name. It was clearly a pretty expensive goodbye gift. At our old dentist we would expect a magnet for the fridge, here we got a lighted mirror. In fact, the receptionist said Willow could take another one home for her sister.

All in all, the experience could not have been better. Willow not only found the whole experience easy, we were treated like royalty. The whole time I was thinking that I was glad that Lea went through and found one of the best dentists in Dallas. It’s easy to sit back and say “a dentist is a dentist,” but I long ago lost my working class background biases and now can see pretty clearly: You do get what you pay for.

Oh, and you do pay.

Having her six teeth drilled and taken care of will cost us $1,600. But, I tell you, after Lea and I traded stories of the terror and nightmares we had in our youth with dentists, we both feel it’s totally worth it.