(43-303) The Wonderful World of Braces

I'm writing today's post while I sit in the cafe area of our Orthodontist's office.  Today is a big day for Lyndzi because after 16 months of wearing an expander in the roof of her mouth; it's being removed so that she can get her first four top braces.

Lyndzi is extremely excited about the removal of the expander; and I don't even have the words to describe how proud I am of her, for enduring the treatment for as long as she did.  If you're not familiar with modern day Orthodonture, lemme give ya a lil crash course.  A top expander is attached on a semi-permanent basis by adhering brackets to the top, back teeth and attaching a contraption that will be calibrated during regular appointments at the Orthodontist, for the purpose of expanding your jaw.  Sounds like fun, huh?  The bottom expander (which Lyndzi also had), looks more like a heavy duty retainer, except that it comes with a little key and twice a week I would have to turn the key (while the piece was out of her mouth), in order to tighten the appliance.  When Lyndzi first got the expanders she was told that she should have them for 9 to 12 months; but as I mentioned before, she's now had it for 16 and she is READY to get it out.  Since Lyndzi had to take the bottom expander out when she ate, there was a lot of opportunity for it to get lost; but she always acted very responsibly; and for this I am very proud and truly grateful.

I'm hoping that since Lyndzi's now had experience with the discomfort that Orthodonture can cause; that the transition to the braces will be a smoothe one.  Lyndzi was a little nervous about getting her braces on and Nicky privately, shared with me that he was nervous for her too.  I distracted Lyndzi a bit by taking her picture with my phone.  I had forgotten to get a before shot of Nicky and I didn't want to make the same mistake with Lyndzi.

Lyndzi's technician, Gina came by and she said that she too would take a few before pics for us, and she took Lyndzi outside. 

When Lyndzi returned she told me that Gina wanted to speak to me.  Gina showed me the pictures, and then said "so we're doing the plain silver braces; no stars or hearts or anything, right?"  I was thrown for a moment, and said "I thought she was getting the clear braces on top."  I then told her that we didn't know anything about the stars or hearts. Gina explained that if Lyndzi was going to choose to put colors on her braces, getting the clear was kind of pointless.  Now before I go further, I HAVE to share the color situation with you.  The colors are little, plastic rings that the patient can choose to put around the bands.  And if you haven't already seen them,  you would not believe how many colors there are to choose from.

Gina said that she thought that Lyndzi should have as much fun with her braces as possible; and I told Lyndzi that I would leave it up to her.  I asked about the stars and hearts and she told me that she'd show them to us.  She then brought over a mold of a mouth, with different shaped braces on the teeth.  There was a star, a heart, a flower, and a music note.

I told Lyndzi that she could choose whatever she liked; and she opted for the flower. 

It's just amazing how many choices there are in the wonderful world of braces now.
I remember getting my retainer after many LONG years of braces; and I thought it was so cool that I could choose a color other than the standard pink. I chose purple, OF COURSE; and I can honestly say that choosing the color did make me feel better about the retainer, and using it. I have a feeling that these flower braces will do the same for Lyndzi.

When all was said and done, Lyndzi chose Lilac and Aqua for her colors, and I think that you can tell form this picture, that she was very pleased with her choice. 

I absolutely love Affiliated Orthodontics and I can't sing their praises loud enough. Dr's Womack and Davis (as well as their staff) have all been incredible during our courses of treatment; and I highly recommend them if you live in the area.  If you decide to pay them a visit, please let them know that you heard about them from me.

Till next time...

Queen of EVERYTHING

(43-164) Rubber Bands & Common Sense

This week, I told a Lyndzi story, in "The Princess of Positivity," and a Kelsie story, in "What A Girl!" so last but not least; I DO have a Nicky story.  This was a tough week for Nicky.  On Tuesday he went to the Orthodontist and they put heavier wires on both his top and bottom teeth; and then, as if that wasn't enough to get used to; they gave him rubber bands as well.  The Orthodontist's assistant came out and explained everything to me; and then asked me to come back with her so that she could show me how to put the rubber bands in; if Nicky were to need some help.

I walked over to Nicky, who was still sitting in the Orthodontist's chair; and he looked like he was on the verge of tears.  Nicky was in pain from the heavier wires AND he was frustrated because he was having difficulty putting the rubber bands in.  I assured Nicky that he was going to be fine; and I told him that if he could figure out how to play all the video and computer games that he plays; he can figure out how to put the rubber bands in.  I told him to think of it like a game, as he tried to hook the rubber bands to the 3 brackets; and he rose to the occasion.

Nicky asked to stay home on Wednesday, because he was in so much pain; and I let him.  I totally remembered how miserable I used to feel after I would have my braces tightened, or wires replaced and the addition of rubber bands on top of it, just may have been to much to bear.  I gave Nicky Ibuprofen and bought him some mashed potatoes and a vanilla shake from Culver's and by the time the girls got home from school, Nicky was feeling a little better. 

With Nicky going back to school; I was concerned about him changing his rubber bands after lunch; but he told me that he managed; and I have to say that I am very impressed with how well he's adapted.  Nicky has yet to need my help putting the rubber bands in or taking them out; so maybe my suggestion to think of it as a game, was a good one.

Now, as if the braces adjustment wasn't enough of an inconvenience for one week; Nicky met with another.  On Wednesday night, I discovered that Nicky's Facebook account had been deactivated; and I didn't know why.  We decided that he should wait 24 hours before trying to log into his account, but even after the time elapsed, the account was still inaccessible.  We submitted an inquiry and were advised that they would email his account.  A little while later, Nicky asked Luis and I what the email meant; but as we hadn't read it, we couldn't explain.  Luis asked Nicky if he'd read it; but he hadn't, so Luis instructed him to do so.  Nicky went to go read the email, and when he returned, we asked what it said, but he had deleted it.  WHAT?  I couldn't figure out why in the world he'd delete the email before understanding it, or showing it to Luis and I; and I guess I should say, that not only did he delete it from his inbox; he permanently deleted it; so there was no way for Luis and I to see it and assist him.

Long story short, if I'm being perfectly honest, I suppose you could say that I chastised Nicky for deleting the email and after Nicky went up to bed; Luis called my attention to how hurtful what I said may have been to Nicky.  I went up to see Nicky, because the last thing that I would want to do is hurt him.  I explained that what he had done, showed no common sense; and that it was important to have common sense, because common sense can keep you out of trouble.  I told Nicky that you can have a 4.0, straight A's, and be the smarted person in the world; but without common sense; you could get hurt; both physically and emotionally; and I would hate to see that.
I reviewed what had transpired with the account, and explained why it would have been necessary for us to have seen the email.  Ultimately, I think Nicky understood; and by this morning we were able to re-activate his account.  It turns out, they suspected that it may be a "fake" account, and suggested that Nicky send more friend requests, put more status updates and send messages to friends; in order to be recognized as a genuine account.

I explained this to Nicky, and encouraged him to try and use Facebook more actively.  Now there's a twist.  Most parents of pre-teens probably don't have to prod their kids to use FACEBOOK; but then again, Nicky IS NOT most kids; and I am so grateful for that.  Nicky is a kind, thoughtful, sensitive, caring, young man.  He is hard working, diligent and wise; so when he doesn't use the good sense that he was given; I find it frustrating and disappointing.  I never want anything bad to happen to Nicky (or any of my children, ) but I have to insure that if something bad did happen; they wouldn't fall apart and they would be able to rely on their common sense to know how to handle the situation.

I know that sometimes, it may seem that I'm very strict; but the truth of the matter is; I lost both of my parents before they were done teaching me a lot of valuable lessons; so since we never know how much time we're going to have; I try not to miss an opportunity to teach my children something.    Nicky has learned some very important lessons this week, and I think that he'll be all the better for them.  He'll get there; I know he will!
Till Next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING

Blog Envy

To say that I've had myself a case of blog envy for the past few weeks, would be putting it mildly. After watching "Julie and Julia" (which I loved, by the way;) on New Year's day I was ridiculously, jealous of Julie's blogging success. I mean all she did (not to minimize it,) was to follow each recipe in Julia Child's cookbook and write about it and she got a gazillion readers, writing gigs, and a movie; and yet here I sit, coming up with original material of (I'm told) an admirable caliber, and I'm virtually unknown. Heck, even "Ugly Betty" started her own blog last week and next week she's up for a blog AWARD. (YES, I know that's pretend; but you get the picture!) I was in a nasty, unbecoming place.

So,in the midst of my covetousness and self doubt, I couldn't come up with a complete blog for last week and so I opted out. Oh, I had ideas alright, but nothing that I seemed to be able to formulate into an entire blog; though God knows I tried. First I started with "Ya Gotta have Friends," the blog I felt driven to write because when I was giving out fundraiser flyers to the parents in our soccer league and I asked one dad to take two, (so that he could give one to a friend,) he replied "I don't have any friends." Now, in his case, that's a statement that I easily could believe; because he is kind of a jerky guy and by a jerky guy I mean A JERK. But this other mom, (on one of my kids teams;) who is SO NICE and friendly with many other moms, gave me the same response; "I don't really have any friends" and that's when I started hearing Bette Midler's "Ya gotta HAVE FRIENDS" song, over and over in my head (to the point where I was frequently singing it out loud.) I was overwhelmed with a compulsion to write about how very sad it would be,not to have friends. I felt the need to write about how grateful I am for MY friends and how much I LOVE and rely on my friends; because they really are the family that you choose for yourself; but alas, no blog was written about it. (wink wink.)

I thought about giving you an update on Nicky and B (from the Winter Wonderland dance,) because although she was very attentive towards him when they returned to school; after the Christmas break, the same could not be said. In fact, Nicky came home after a couple of days of being back to school and he looked unusually sad. I asked him what was wrong and he told me that B was not talking to him anymore. He explained that he would say "Hi," but she didn't respond; and I just felt terrible for him. He hadn't even liked this girl before the dance and once she started talking to him, Luis and I encouraged him to be more friendly towards her and now he was heartbroken. For the next few days, I would ask if he had seen B and he would say "yes," and I would ask if they had spoken, and he'd say "no;" and so finally I said "well, you know what they say," and he replied "love em and leave em." Oh my god, oh my god; I laughed my butt off and so did Nicky. I was actually going to say "there are more fish in the sea." How on earth did my quiet, shy, boy know the expression, love em and leave em? I guess it just goes to show, you have to watch out for the quiet ones; but for some reason I couldn't convey that message in a blog either.

I thought about writing about how I hadn't been feeling the love for or from the world for the past few weeks, and how I couldn't put my finger on why; but now I know - it was due to the blog envy.

So on Tuesday I was at the Orthodontist for Lyndzi and I picked up an issue of "Parents Magazine," because although it's typically geared towards parents with younger children, there were a few captions that caught my attention; and while I was flipping through the pages, to get to the article about taking the icky out of the picky eater; I came across an article about moms who blog and need I say the blog envy crept in and almost choked me. It was truly a good article and highlighted some of the success that moms who blog had been having and there it was; right there in print it said GO TO Parents.com/mommy-blog to tell us about your favorite mom run blog and so I got the idea to enlist help from my Facebook fan club and friends.

I sent a message through the fan club and an email to approximately 20 people, requesting that they go to this website and let "Parents Magazine" know about me. I thought about checking the link before posting it, but yah, that would have just made TOO MUCH SENSE; and as I am NOT the Queen of THE INTERNET; I didn't. So was I surprised when shortly after sending these pleas out into the universe, my friend David emailed me to let me know that the link didn't work? Of course not; that's just par for the course for me. And in my own defense I'll just attribute my overzealousness to the fact that I had just been told Lyndzi's orthodonture was going to cost about $5000 AFTER my dental insurance and multi- family member discount and so I wanted to get the ball rolling immediately.

So, back to the drawing board I went. I emailed everyone that the link didn't work and I sucked up yet another one of my faux pas. But I will add, shame on you "Parents magazine." I really thought that there was a possibility that we were going to be getting to know each other; but alas; no. Or perhaps I should say; not right now. Of course you know that I am NOT giving up on this. I WILL find a way to get myself known and set myself apart from the thousands of mommy bloggers out there, because I am not JUST a mommy blogger; heck; I'm the Queen of EVERYTHING! But, if you have any ideas or know anyone who might be able to provide me with some assistance, guidance or encouragement; please send them my way.

In the meantime, I went back to that stinkin link and took another stab at it. This time I was more successful, though it wasn't as direct of a hit as one might have assumed by "Parents" link post. SO, at the risk of seeming like I'm begging, pleading, or sounding pathetic, you can email editors@goodyblog.com and let them know why YOU enjoy "The Bumpy Ride," which just happens to be a MOM run blog. You can also email any other literary magazine where you think they might enjoy my work. After all there is strength in numbers AND you know that I for one am ALWAYS looking out for YOUR GREATER GOOD.

Till next time...

Queen of EVERYTHING