Ouch.
On Friday night, I remembered something that I hadn't thought about in a long time.
That morning, we took Jago to his first dental appointment. This is like someone's childhood fantasy dentist office. Free video games and movies and a huge family-style bathroom complete with a fully functioning mini-toilet for little ones. The staff were all super-patient, and said that the first appointment was just to see what we can do, what the kid's comfortable with. Because mommy's so pregnant, he sat in daddy's lap for the entire examination, while daddy sat in the chair.
He did great and let them do their jobs completely. (Unfortunately, that included finding a huge cavity on one of his back molars that he'll have until he's 10, and an abscess would mess up the permanent teeth behind, etc. So we're coming back to get that fixed. But that's another story.)
At a couple points, they were so kind and patient that I got a little misty eyed, and I almost jokingly asked "Where were you 35 years ago?" I realized that I would actually cry if I said that. I had some pretty bad times at dentist offices as a kid. I think most people my age did. I don't think it built any character or any of that shit, either, it just made me avoid dentists as an adult so now I have a mouthful of treasure.
Later that day, when I was putting Jago down for the night, I flashed on some other memory, from further back. I remembered when I was 4 and 3 and even 2, being in mortal terror of the doctor's office. In fairness to my parents lack of inquisitiveness, mortal terror was a very common emotional state for me as a child. I haven't thought about that in years - nay, decades. I didn't know what was up with that.
But I remember quite distinctly as a 4 year-old recounting my painful memory in the doctor's office as a baby. I was afraid of the scale. The cold, metal scale that they put me on to weigh me. I was laid in a little metal pan, and the lights were very, very bright, and suddenly I was seized with intense pain. I think it happened more than once. I know I was brought back to that scale, or a similar scale, a few times afterwards and subjected to lesser pains or discomfort, and I was always afraid it would be that bad again.
And I remember, when I was three or four, worried they were going to put me on the scale again and hurt me, and being relieved but dubious finding out they don't lay me on a scale anymore, I stand and it's not a metal pan. Still didn't care for shots. But I was still afraid they might put me on the pan and hurt my penis again.
Yeah. Circumcision. I remember it. I remembered it for a few years. Then I stopped thinking about it, for a long time - long before I knew what circumcision was. When I was 8, 10, 12 years old, every man I ever saw naked was circumcised, and no one really talked about it. It might have been mentioned in passing in some uncomfortable health class, but I didn't really know much about it until much later, and by then I didn't really recall the metal pan and the bright lights in any detail. Or if I did, it never occurred to me to piece it together like that.
Jago seems to have my penchant for remarkable mnemonic abilities. He endured a lot of pain his first few days from testing his blood for jaundice. I think they did that to me, too. If not jaundice, then something. Lots of blood draws. I'm very glad that I can explain that this was a medical necessity, rather than just something people didn't really think much about.
I'm really glad we chose not to circumcise.
Screens up.
That morning, we took Jago to his first dental appointment. This is like someone's childhood fantasy dentist office. Free video games and movies and a huge family-style bathroom complete with a fully functioning mini-toilet for little ones. The staff were all super-patient, and said that the first appointment was just to see what we can do, what the kid's comfortable with. Because mommy's so pregnant, he sat in daddy's lap for the entire examination, while daddy sat in the chair.
He did great and let them do their jobs completely. (Unfortunately, that included finding a huge cavity on one of his back molars that he'll have until he's 10, and an abscess would mess up the permanent teeth behind, etc. So we're coming back to get that fixed. But that's another story.)
At a couple points, they were so kind and patient that I got a little misty eyed, and I almost jokingly asked "Where were you 35 years ago?" I realized that I would actually cry if I said that. I had some pretty bad times at dentist offices as a kid. I think most people my age did. I don't think it built any character or any of that shit, either, it just made me avoid dentists as an adult so now I have a mouthful of treasure.
Later that day, when I was putting Jago down for the night, I flashed on some other memory, from further back. I remembered when I was 4 and 3 and even 2, being in mortal terror of the doctor's office. In fairness to my parents lack of inquisitiveness, mortal terror was a very common emotional state for me as a child. I haven't thought about that in years - nay, decades. I didn't know what was up with that.
But I remember quite distinctly as a 4 year-old recounting my painful memory in the doctor's office as a baby. I was afraid of the scale. The cold, metal scale that they put me on to weigh me. I was laid in a little metal pan, and the lights were very, very bright, and suddenly I was seized with intense pain. I think it happened more than once. I know I was brought back to that scale, or a similar scale, a few times afterwards and subjected to lesser pains or discomfort, and I was always afraid it would be that bad again.
And I remember, when I was three or four, worried they were going to put me on the scale again and hurt me, and being relieved but dubious finding out they don't lay me on a scale anymore, I stand and it's not a metal pan. Still didn't care for shots. But I was still afraid they might put me on the pan and hurt my penis again.
Yeah. Circumcision. I remember it. I remembered it for a few years. Then I stopped thinking about it, for a long time - long before I knew what circumcision was. When I was 8, 10, 12 years old, every man I ever saw naked was circumcised, and no one really talked about it. It might have been mentioned in passing in some uncomfortable health class, but I didn't really know much about it until much later, and by then I didn't really recall the metal pan and the bright lights in any detail. Or if I did, it never occurred to me to piece it together like that.
Jago seems to have my penchant for remarkable mnemonic abilities. He endured a lot of pain his first few days from testing his blood for jaundice. I think they did that to me, too. If not jaundice, then something. Lots of blood draws. I'm very glad that I can explain that this was a medical necessity, rather than just something people didn't really think much about.
I'm really glad we chose not to circumcise.
Screens up.