As a parent, the longest part of your day might just be the ride home from work, especially with a newborn in the house.
When that job consists of treating kids all day, it reinforces the space between you and your own children. So you end up doing things like family dance parties.
“Having a newborn in the mix for the dance parties is tough, but in ten years my oldest daughter will look at me with that ‘get outta here, dad’ look, so for right now, I’m enjoying every Friday,” admits Greg Rosenberg, the orthodontist dad who was voted “most embarrassing dancer” by two of his three kids.
That’s really saying something when one of your children goes by the name “Dinosaur”.
“We started having dance parties at my house every Friday night with my wife and kids. It gives us all a chance to cut loose a bit, get our blood moving, and even sometimes inspire an idea for work to boot.”
He’s not kidding. During one of these sessions, his wife, Rachel, started to sing along with “Old Town Road”, only changing the lyrics to “Dr. Rose-n-berg…”. A parody music video on his practice's website was born. (It can be found here if you’re up for it: smileexperienceorthodontics.com/what-makes-us-different/)
“Kids are always nervous going to the orthodontist, especially that first time,” he explains. “We try to keep that in mind as they come in to see us. As a dad, that’s what I’d want for my own kids, so we try to make it fun for them if we can.” As fun as it can be, considering.
“Whether it’s at home or at work, we try to keep a good amount of energy up. Playing upbeat music, having those dance parties, singing, joking around — nobody had to twist my arm to make that video. I was pumped! It was my staff that had to be talked into it!”
Greg and Rachel are trying to stay ahead of the parenting curve. They’ve been prepping for the inevitable spell social media will have over their kids. They started teaching themselves TikTok last year, starting with a Halloween PacMan video that the kids will naturally one day loathe. But that’s not going to stop them.
“Right now our kids are in that sweet spot of having fun with us without being mortified by it. Now with the new baby, we’re guaranteed at least a few more years of simply being 'fun parents'. In my office, I'm known to say that people need to ‘get to happy’ but I’m pretty lucky to be able to say that I’m already there.”
For anyone looking to see what all the fun is about, the Smile Experience Orthodontics office is at 150 Hinchman Avenue in Wayne.