a root canal, no dental insurance, lollipops, and the old school

So it turns out I did need a root canal.  To say nothing of the filling I needed on the adjacent tooth.  Over three hours in the dentist chair.  Tilda and her mom came in near the end to comfort me though.  And there we were, me and Tilda drooling all over ourselves.  This does raise an issue related to having a baby while in graduate school (which is what this blog is supposed to be about-not about fascism and environmental irresponsibility)...and that is, graduate students do not get insurance for root canals and so on top of making little money, medical expenses are real, not swept under an insurance rug.  There are programs for the baby and so she gets covered, which is important.  So brush your teeth.  I remember being a kid and brushing my teeth was a chore.  I imagine I probably went days without actually brushing my teeth when I was little.  It doesn't seem right to say, but there was not a big emphasis on it back then.  I'm not blaming my parents.  I even recall the dentist giving out lollipops after our cleanings.  The old school, got to make sure Tilda gets a little bit of that.  What was in that novacaine anyway?
    Oh, and my wife is now a cloth diaper making fiend.