my home the desert

The kids and I are studying weather systems right now, and the other day we read about deserts. We looked at a picture and description of an oasis. After reading about the true occurrence of water in a dry land, I mentioned to the kids that "oasis" is also a term often used outside of the context of weather, like a loved one's home could be an oasis of safety and comfort while the outside might be full of frustrations and fears. Naomi nodded knowingly- "I know exactly what you mean using the word that way, mom. For us kids, the dentist office is an oasis of television. We don't get it anywhere else, but there, it is!"



'Tis true. The dentist office we started going to has a nice flat screen TV on a jointed arm for each patient. When Naomi had to get fillings last month, I was worried that she would have a hard time with the shots, drilling, etc. I even got Andrea to watch Josiah so that I could be with her the whole time. Sometimes you really know your child, and sometimes you are just totally off. This was a time when I was totally off. Naomi didn't even notice whether I was in the room or not. After donning her cool yellow glasses, and choosing Tom and Jerry and the Flintstones, she was gone to this world. Didn't even answer the doctors questions, like, "Are you still OK?" Response from her- wild laughter. After the procedure, which I don't think she noticed either, she sighed with pleasure from her cartoon fix, and said, poking her tongue around in her mouth, "Hey, there's something hard in here! Ha! I think there is a marble in my mouth! Ha ha! That is so weird!" "That's your tooth, dear" I replied. "It's time to go home now."



One more thing- when we got home, she told Josiah that she finally got to see the show about the vitamins. Now she's one up on him- she knows what those Flintstones are all about.