Sweet Tween got a jaw expander today. It’s an annoying metal thing in her mouth. In 3 weeks (just in time for her birthday) she’ll get her braces and wear both together for a year or more. She’s sputtering like Daffy Duck now and finding food hard to chew. She informed me that her LIFE IS OVER.
Little does she know that life is really over for My Man and I . . . or it feels like it, since we have to dish out the money for this.
Sweet Tween doesn’t understand why she needs braces. “My teeth are fine,” she says . . . even though her overbite is humongous and she could balance pennies on her nearly horizontal teeth. I’m glad she’s happy with herself. I’ve always taught her that beauty is more than skin-deep. BUT I’m saving her from trouble in her dating years and a life of headaches and jaw pain from that overbite.
So as I listen to her complain and all the drama as she gets used to her new mouth, I remember my own experience and that braces really DO STINK. I’m trying to show her compassion (even though I really just want to say “Suck it up!”). So I made a dinner of soft foods–meatloaf, potato salad, grapes, and smoothies. I gave her a hug tonight and promised she would be used to it all very soon. And then, I turned my patience (or maybe just my ability to ignore) on HIGH and I’m pretending I don’t hear it anymore.
One day down . . . 2 more years to go.
