To Matt from Nancy

SERVICE FOR MATTHEW BUHRLEY

2013 By Nancy Schultz

      This year the person I was given to perform service for was Matt Buhrley, my son in law. Matt is such a talented man in so many areas, it was hard for me to narrow down what I should do. I thought of ushering at a professional football, or basketball game, or doing something in Boy Scouts, or learning how to become a handy man person.

      But I decided to do something that involved Dentistry, which is how he makes his living.

On December 19, 2013, I went to Ruby Schultz’s school classroom to teach them some important principles about their teeth. But I didn’t just go as her Grandma, I went as a special visitor.

I had previously worked it out with the teacher, which day would be best. There are 61 students in her 1^st thru 3^rd classroom. I then went to Heather Williams home, who is a dental hygienist, and had her teach me how to instruct the students to brush and floss their teeth correctly. Then she had a fun game to play, gave me a large model of teeth, with felt pieces of food and cavities. She had large pieces of yarn to show how to floss, and gave me a book to read to them.  I felt very prepared!

Then I contacted my dental office, Nelson Dental Group in Fullerton. I told them what I was doing, and asked if they could donate some toothbrushes to give out to the children. They were so supportive and excited to be involved in my service! They ordered and delivered 61 gift bags filled with toothbrushes, little timers to time how long to brush, and a pencil with cute teeth all over it.

That morning, I put on my white dress, fairy wings, tiara, and my Magic Bag, and went to her class as The Tooth Fairy! Also in the class, were Clara and Clyde Berrett. They were all so surprised and mesmerized by seeing me. I told them I was here to teach them about how important taking care of their teeth was. I demonstrated on the teeth model how to brush in circles, and floss, how often to do it, Then I read a book to them about going to the dentist, and not being afraid. They loved it! Then we played the fun game. I had 2 large mouths on the board, one clearly had healthy teeth, and the other had cavities, and food, etc. On the back of several toothbrushes were little situations, like, “Jack loves to snack on candy all day, and forgets to brush his teeth at night.” Which mouth will Jack have?

There were about 10 of those questions involving healthy choices, or bad choices.

At the end, I told them that I was really Ruby’s grandma, and I was so happy to have come and taught them.

What was funny about the whole thing was that they had just finished reading Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, and had put on the play, talking about all kinds of candy, that very week. And that day their activity was making ginger bread houses, with candy! The teachers and I got a good laugh, but I told them that they needed to brush very good this Christmas, because they would be eating lots of treats and candy.