Amelia went to the dentist. And hated it.

It's not popular, but you've gotta do it. Yes, even princesses.

A couple of weeks ago, I took all the kids to the dentist before work. It was Amelia's first visit. I'd love to tell you it went smoothly.

It did not.

She took Mickey -- her constant companion since Disney on Ice -- with her, and of course the boys couldn't be bothered to have their own teeth cleaned until they'd supervised EVERY. SINGLE. ASPECT. of her cleaning first.

She flat our refused to climb into the patient's chair, so the hygienist offered to conduct the visit with Amelia in my lap. Oh, goodie.

Yes, please. That was just what I was hoping for.

NOT.

Nick was full of tips for the hygienist, if you can't tell from the position of his mouth, below.

But honestly, there was no helping this situation. It was a no-win kind of thing.

I mean, can you see the tear that just kind of sat there beneath her left eye?

No? Well, here's a better view of it AS IT RAN DOWN HER FACE.

The hygienist kept giving Amelia little breaks here and there to catch her breath and get her wits about her.

Honestly, I'm not sure that was a great idea. Might have been better to just push on through to the end.

With that approach, she kept thinking she was done, only to get reeled back in.

Nathaniel and Nick started to show their skepticism pretty openly.

Amelia got wise and pretty much pinched her lips closed.

She was finally like, "Oh HECK NO."

Can't say that I think having two of her brothers breathing down her neck was doing her a lot of favors, either.

It got epic, Internet.

Mano a mano up in there. And the peanut gallery was practically GIDDY WITH ANTICIPATION.

Nick could smell the blood in the water.

We made it all the way through the cleaning, so I'm calling it a Win. The hygienist kept asking me if I wanted her to stop, and I was like, "We're here for a cleaning. Let's clean her teeth." I mean, it's not like it hurts ... she just didn't want the lady to touch her. I don't like having MY teeth cleaned, either, but I do it.

I did reward her with a few sips of the end of my frapp.

The entire dental office got a huge kick out of that, and two of the hygienists took pictures of her drinking it.

Small reward. She earned it.

Also, she thought she was done. But she wasn't. DUH-DUH-DUN ...

Dr. Mike still had to come in and sign off on her cleaning. Ohhhhhhhh, that was really Not Popular.

Also Not Popular: Dr. Mike told her she needed to give up the paci, which we already knew. She's kept it several months longer than any of the boys did, but we gave it up the weekend after that appointment. She's adjusted beautifully.

I'm just glad we have six full months to get over the cleaning before she has to go back. Girlfriend knows how to hold a grudge.