Parental Thread

[EvoFire]

The problem seems to be that both our dental coverage do not cover every single line item. Due to the need to go under general anesthesia, they have to rent an external site for the surgery. The majority of the cost is from the external site rental as none of the pediatric dentistries we've talked to are equipped to deal with that.

Back when my wife worked for ICBC, her coverage covered the site rental as well. Currently my coverage, I'm guessing in the company's effort to reduce the cost of health benefits, do not cover that. There's a few things that my coverage do not cover such as anything that has to do with optical. Instead we have a $1000 health spending account to take care of any of these. Since I already have general dental covered, wife opted for supplementary coverage instead of full, which coincidentally did not carry coverage for site rental. So we are stuck with the bill.

So you could say our coverage just didn't have all bases covered, but I've heard of many ppl who, if not part of a union or CBA, has much worse, or no coverage at all.

[SSM_DC5]

Originally Posted by EvoFire

...
The total bill is $5k. Insurance covers $3k so we are out of pocket $1995. How the fuck do anyone have kids without making at least 6 figures. How does anyone afford kids getting hurt.

Sorry to hear about the dental problems and the costly bill.

My usual answer when people ask me when the second is coming........ "never, kids are too expensive" I'm gotten follow up responses "why are you so selfish"

[RabidRat]

^ have people really said that? wow, fuck them.

[Traum]

Wow... selfish, huh? It isn't exactly a new one to me, but it is so rarely heard and so loaded an accusation that it is pretty unbelievable lol~

[inv4zn]

An older girl at my 4 y/o's daycare brought some toddler nail polish, and everyone got their nails painted.

Then, ours immediately ruined 3 out of the 5 fingers. The remaining ones were the middle finger, and the thumb.

She spent all evening giving people a perfectly formed middle finger, showing off her fancy pink nails...lol. Tried explaining in toddler terms why it's not nice but she didn't care...probably didn't help that I was stifling laughter the entire time either.

[underscore]

Originally Posted by SSM_DC5

My usual answer when people ask me when the second is coming........ "never, kids are too expensive" I'm gotten follow up responses "why are you so selfish"

That they think you're being selfish and not also thinking about how it would impact your other childs life says a lot about them.

[beatdownvictim]

I got back from disneyland 3 weeks ago and i thouht my feet were going to die,was averaging 24k steps. My kids did not complain at all about all the walking

I didnt want to go but my wife wanted my younger son to enjoy it since the last time he went it was right before the pandemic and he couldn’t go on many rides. This time around we went on all of thrm. Had early entry staying at VGC and tokk advantage kd that everyday(waking up at 6aam sucks).

My boys ate at flos too and were meh about the fried chicken. We ate at carnation and cafe orleans for out sit down restaurants. Cancelled blue bayou since its overrated and food is meh. Reservations were a pain to get for lamp light for the world of color times(recommend to anyone going to sign up at mousedining.com for email notifications of available reservations.

Now my wife commanded me to book disneyworld..fuck me its twice the price of disneyland.

P.S: if you get genie+ learn to fish for MEPs and accelerate your bookings. I didnt get the hang of it until my last 2 days and i was loaded up on a bunch of free lightning lanes.

[nabs]

I'm going to whistler this weekend with my 2 year old. I used to be excited to go to whistler, now it feels like work.

She also gets motion sickness, so we have to take breaks every 45 mins or so otherwise she throws up... wish me luck.


but for real though, seeing her experience things for the first time is amazing. She's been talking about going to the mountains for the last month, and when we told her were going to be going to the mountain her eyes just lit up. She started making plans like which stuffies to take and which blanket to take.



Tacking on to the previous convo: Kids are fucking expensive... we can never figure out where the money goes, but it was definitely easier to budget before we had a baby.

[EvoFire]

Originally Posted by nabs

I'm going to whistler this weekend with my 2 year old. I used to be excited to go to whistler, now it feels like work.

She also gets motion sickness, so we have to take breaks every 45 mins or so otherwise she throws up... wish me luck.


but for real though, seeing her experience things for the first time is amazing. She's been talking about going to the mountains for the last month, and when we told her were going to be going to the mountain her eyes just lit up. She started making plans like which stuffies to take and which blanket to take.



Tacking on to the previous convo: Kids are fucking expensive... we can never figure out where the money goes, but it was definitely easier to budget before we had a baby.

We are going up on Saturday morning probably and leaving around 2-3pm I think. Where are you staying? bnb or hotel?

[inv4zn]

Originally Posted by nabs

I'm going to whistler this weekend with my 2 year old. I used to be excited to go to whistler, now it feels like work.

Did this at exactly same age; prepare to spend hours at the playground there, lol.

We went to some fancy restaurant for one dinner, I forget which. But they had tripp-trapps for high chairs. They gave the 2y/o water in some super thin crystal glass and we were like uh we really don't think that's a good idea, but they said they had no other cups. Lo and behold the first sip she takes, "Crack". We freak out a bit but there was no broken glass, just a crack. Magically they found a thicker cup. Also 2 year olds apparently don't like truffle, lol.

[supafamous]

Originally Posted by beatdownvictim

I got back from disneyland 3 weeks ago and i thouht my feet were going to die,was averaging 24k steps. My kids did not complain at all about all the walking

24k steps!!! I think we were around 15-18k steps most days and I was really glad we did rest days after 2 days in the park cause my feet were killing me by the end of day 2. For me 1k steps seems to loosely translate to about a km. We brought a stroller and I was glad I pushed it around a lot as it took my mind off all the walking - I was just mindlessly keeping the stroller going.

[beatdownvictim]

Lol we park hopped each day as we used up our LLs per attraction.

My boys are at the age no more strollers..it gets so stressful pushing that damn thing around and people steal from it.

We did 5 days straight with 3 hour breaks after lunch so it was manageable.
Our only regret was waiting for that stupid pixar parade…they reused a lot of old floats from previous parades and took out the cool ones with toy story characters.

Anyone looking to stay should look at DVC rentals much cheaper to stay onsite.

[Traum]

All this Disneyland talk got me thinking and looking, and OMG... even the DVC rental looks like there is a ton of information to process hahaha~

As a very rough sort of guide, what sort of time frame in the year would you guys say is a good time to go, both in terms of weather and crowds? I've been to (the Anaheim) Disneyland before for my university graduation trip, but another friend had planned the whole thing.

Also, how long a stay would you say is good for a kid in early elementary school? 3 days? 5 days? Is it a good idea to spend time in Cali Adventure Park with a kid at that age at all?

[supafamous]

Originally Posted by Traum

All this Disneyland talk got me thinking and looking, and OMG... even the DVC rental looks like there is a ton of information to process hahaha~

As a very rough sort of guide, what sort of time frame in the year would you guys say is a good time to go, both in terms of weather and crowds? I've been to (the Anaheim) Disneyland before for my university graduation trip, but another friend had planned the whole thing.

Also, how long a stay would you say is good for a kid in early elementary school? 3 days? 5 days? Is it a good idea to spend time in Cali Adventure Park with a kid at that age at all?

So California schools run from early August till mid-May so I'd say the once schools let out that it's pretty darn busy and then August/Sept is stinking hot. I thought when we went (mid-May) worked out really well - the weather was 18-20 degrees and dry every day (except for about 20 mins of rain on the first day) and while there was some grad traffic it wasn't super crazy. You'll find calendars online that talk about how busy it's forecasted to be but I found they are all over the place with their forecasts and they don't take into account when Disney does ticket sales (they have a 3 day one right now going on).

I think 3-5 days works depending on how many hours you plan to spend in the park per day and how much of things you want to experience - I did 4 days and was about 8-9 hours per day and I think I experienced about 60-70% of the parks. My friend with a 10 year old did 4 days straight and was going for 11-12 hours a day and seemed like he got through everything. The more of an introvert you are the more you'll want to spread it out - it's really loud there and you can get worn out from all the stimuli. re: California Adventure Park - it's more grown up oriented but I say there's definitely at least a day's worth of stuff for younger kids to see and experience (Elsa and Anna are on this side for example).

re: Planning - there's an overwhelming amount of material out there and some of it makes you feel guilty for not doing more planning. IMO, as long as you show up early (cause it's the least busy) and learn how to use Genie+ effectively you'll be fine. The rest is gravy.

[beatdownvictim]

I like to go in late september. May is grad season so you get a ton of teenagers in groups being loud and annoying(but who wasnt at that age). Weather isnt that great either if you like it hot.


Late september weather is nice and they have the halloween decorations are up. Not as crowded either.

Lemme know if you have any questions about dvc rentals.

We always do 5 days since we can pace ourselves(or so i tell myself).

Give yourself a couple of days when you come back to recover

[Mikoyan]

Not all Cali schools start in Aug. We went labour Day week in 2022. Wife's family there, their kids district started same as ours in Vancouver. Halloween decorations went up right after Labor Day.
Be careful with you bookings in Sept/Oct. Some days the park closes early at 5pm for the Adults themed costume nights when Disney allows adults to go in costumes. If you have a daytime ticket that doesn't count for the night time party, that's a separate ticket. Also, there's a ton of crazy Disney fans that love Halloween. When we were there we saw so many adult Disney fans wearing Halloween themed Disney shirts.
We did 3 days with park hopper and did 20k to 28k steps. We managed to do all the rides and attractions we wanted to see.

One overlooked spot for fireworks viewing is from the Falcon in the Star wars area. Much less of a crowd there. It's like the scenes when the Empire is defeated at Endor.

[EvoFire]

Originally Posted by EvoFire

The dental saga continues.

We found on our son on Saturday night that he has a periodontal abscess on the tooth that he lost two years ago. When Children's removed the tooth, a piece of the root fractured and remained inside the gum. It's since become infected and there's a huge boil on the gum.

We got an emergency appointment with our pediatric dentist this morning, and fuck me... There's some cavities that we've put off dealing with and they recommend getting at least two of them fixed since it's quite deep already. The total bill is $5k. Insurance covers $3k so we are out of pocket $1995. How the fuck do anyone have kids without making at least 6 figures. How does anyone afford kids getting hurt.

The continuation.

So far the abscess hasn't gotten any worse after the initial few days. We were given 3 options, 1) do nothing, 2) have an oral surgeon handle just the fragment, 3) go under GA and have the fragment removed, and cavities taken care of.

We were assured that this is actually quite common, and that as long as he doesn't start hurting a lot, or it doesn't start swelling up his lips and face then we have time.

Option 1 isn't really an option as it doesn't go away without intervention.
Option 2 became a non-starter when the oral surgeons that we were referred to came back with mid-July dates.
Option 3 was basically it. We've booked in for next Wednesday and we are just hoping things stay the same for the next few days. They suggested that at least 2 of the cavities need to be handled as they were deep enough that once they hit the root we may run into the same issue again, so we'll be dealing with the cavities. And since the majority of the cost is in the site rental there's no reason not to do it.

[TypeRNammer]

Speaking of dental problems, daughter is 6.5 years old. None of her baby teeth has fallen out yet, one big tooth is starting to come out, but the baby tooth that's sitting in front of it isn't budging, not even the slightest wiggle

Next dentist appointment is two weeks out

[Traum]

Ugh...

If it needs to be done, then it needs to be done. That's how I'd look at it. At least you got a nice and speedy date booked for next Wednesday.

Good luck with the procedure! And no candies for the kiddo in the next 2 years!

Originally Posted by TypeRNammer

Speaking of dental problems, daughter is 6.5 years old. None of her baby teeth has fallen out yet, one big tooth is starting to come out, but the baby tooth that's sitting in front of it isn't budging, not even the slightest wiggle

Next dentist appointment is two weeks out

The phenomenon is called "shark teeth", and it is actually fairly common among children. My kid ran into that issue with at least 2 of his lower front teeth. We were concerned but our pediatric dentist was just super chill about it, and basically told us not to worry (but we should keep monitoring).

At its "worst", I think 1 of the baby teeth was still pretty snug when the adult teeth got to about 1/2 the height of the baby teeth. Then the baby teeth finally started getting loose, and it eventually fell out on its own. At one point, when the baby teeth was starting to wiggle, it was giving our kid a little discomfort when he eats. We mentioned it to our pediatric dentist again during a check up, and even at that point, the dentist suggested that it was better to just let the baby teeth fall out on its own instead of having her pluck it away. If we really wanted to, she could remove the teeth for us. I was pretty surprised by her recommendation.

[Traum]

An additional thing about the shark teeth -- I can't remember if it was the pediatric dentist, her assistant, or their receptionist telling us this, but our kid was encouraged to gently nudge and/or wiggle the baby teeth a 2 or 3 times a day, supposedly to help it hasten the process.

We certainly did that, and I can't tell you whether it scientifically hastened the baby teeth in falling out, but subjectively, it certainly seems like it helped.

[TypeRNammer]

Thanks Traum for the solid information.

I'll have to monitor my daughter on the weekend as I am working nights.

It's been bothering her to the point where she can't sleep. Last few days she's been sleeping with the wife, while I temporarily sleep in her room.

But in the meanwhile, I'll ask her to wiggle her tooth to see if there's any progress.

[PeanutButter]

Originally Posted by EvoFire

The continuation.

So far the abscess hasn't gotten any worse after the initial few days. We were given 3 options, 1) do nothing, 2) have an oral surgeon handle just the fragment, 3) go under GA and have the fragment removed, and cavities taken care of.

We were assured that this is actually quite common, and that as long as he doesn't start hurting a lot, or it doesn't start swelling up his lips and face then we have time.

Option 1 isn't really an option as it doesn't go away without intervention.
Option 2 became a non-starter when the oral surgeons that we were referred to came back with mid-July dates.
Option 3 was basically it. We've booked in for next Wednesday and we are just hoping things stay the same for the next few days. They suggested that at least 2 of the cavities need to be handled as they were deep enough that once they hit the root we may run into the same issue again, so we'll be dealing with the cavities. And since the majority of the cost is in the site rental there's no reason not to do it.

Not sure if you covered this, but did they leave a tooth fragment in there purposely or did they not know? Because wouldn't that be negligence if they left it in there and shouldn't there be some sort of recourse for that?

[EvoFire]

Originally Posted by PeanutButter

Not sure if you covered this, but did they leave a tooth fragment in there purposely or did they not know? Because wouldn't that be negligence if they left it in there and shouldn't there be some sort of recourse for that?

The fragment was left there by Children's Hospital when they operated on his cracked tooth. It was not done purposely and there was no xray done as it was supposed to be a straightfoward procedure despite being an emergency. My son didn't handle the oral sedative well and they had to rush through.

[Liquid_o2]

Twins hit 20 months and both are going through huge separation anxiety issues. They used to be able to play by themselves in their play area for 20 to 30 minutes at a time while we cooked or cleaned in the kitchen. Now they have huge tantrums as soon as we step away from them. They can see us in the kitchen (we have a safety gate separating the kitchen from the their play area), but are inconsolable as soon as we close the gate. We tried to wait them out on Saturday, but after 20 minutes of hysterics, we gave up.

Anyone have any tips? Or do we just wait out the phase?

[TypeRNammer]

Originally Posted by Traum

An additional thing about the shark teeth -- I can't remember if it was the pediatric dentist, her assistant, or their receptionist telling us this, but our kid was encouraged to gently nudge and/or wiggle the baby teeth a 2 or 3 times a day, supposedly to help it hasten the process.

We certainly did that, and I can't tell you whether it scientifically hastened the baby teeth in falling out, but subjectively, it certainly seems like it helped.

Spoke too soon, daughter's first baby tooth finally came out with no fuss hopefully it's smooth sailing from here on.