The boy’s mouth is now fully outfitted with gear. He has wires on the top and bottom and rubber bands for tension to start correcting his cross bite. It only took the orthodontist 10 minutes to get it all done- not knowing what to expect, I was surprised how quick it was.
The boy was OK with it at the office, but the reality of it has been settling in since then. He has to learn how to attach the rubber bands himself because he isn’t supposed to wear them when he eats. One of the implications hit him when we got home- eating lunch at school. For the moment, he doesn’t want to go to school. Although he’s also bemoaning his getting the elastics in the first place.
Growing up I remember the old mantra “It builds character” (Not that it was used on myself a lot, but it’s a pretty familiar parental quip). I’d say the boy is experiencing that sort of thing now.
5 replies on “Braces Update”
Hard lessons at a tender age …
Building character may NOT be the end result … at least for the first week or so …
Rome wasn’t built in a day, I suspect “character” isn’t either. But yeah, I’m sure it isn’t easy.
I don’t remember braces doing anything with my character, I think that is on par with telling kids that Columbus discovered America. Shoot him straight, later in life he is going to realize that straight teeth are a heck of a lot better than crooked, and if his bite does not line up, it is going to cause ALL kinds of issues for him down the line. It doesn’t build character, it is just something that has to be done. No one likes doing things like that, but that doesn’t change their status, they have to be done, and this son, is one of those things.
Succeed with pride in the end, that you will have accomplished something that you did not want to do, but you will be glad you did later in life; it will help you swallow your misery.
I think you did a good job of refuting yourself here, actually. 😉
We may have a different sense of character, or maybe I did a bad job of explaining, but my point was meant to be that doing something you don’t want to do now because it is eventually going to help you down the line, even though at this stage you have no clue, I don’t see as a character building experience.
If you need to tighten a screw today because 50 years from now a loose screw in that place is going to cause a problem, but for the 50 years prior to it, it is irrelevant, means you are doing something you think is worthless, but in 50 years it will have a purpose, and the job will have been done. No character there, just taking care of something that has to be done eventually.
Straight teeth are not a requirement for life, if anything, it is a vanity issue, a seven deadly violation, maybe he should get a boob job too…now THAT would build his character!