Finn Got Braces

Aaach! On Monday Finn got braces. Aside from my total mommy anxiety and his utter pain - the event went very smoothly. He was in the chair for two hours. I waited outside and gnashed my teeth and cried as I recalled him being a baby in my arms just five seconds ago. Criminy they grow up so fast. Really.

Now he has steel railroad tracks in his mouth. I whimpered a bit at the loss of his cut out smile. And the goofy ten year old smile with the mismatched teeth.

But then he smiled at me with the braces and it was if he always had them. And I was surprised that his cuteness didn't waiver. Not a smitch. In fact his courage only made him more beautiful. God, he's a graceful soul. So much grace.

We opted to make this journey fun. I've learned from facing Flip's cancer that the only way to deal with the harsherness of life is to squeeze out the laughter and joy. So that's how we handled this. No funny hat parties for my Finn, instead the day before braces he was allowed to eat as much chewy candy as he could. My only stipulation, don't make yourself sick. So off to the market dad went and bought every kind of yank out your teeth sugary substance in the store. We had Starburst, JuJu Be's, gummy sharks and every other kind of animal, candy fruit slices, gum. If it could cast terror upon thy dental work, we had it. And Finn dug in. Ate with kid abandon.

Then came the braces. Ouch. The first day did not hurt as much as the second. The second is the worst. But the pain lessens after that.

Okay, so we had a happy remedy for brace day as well. Finn was allowed to get any kind of shake he wanted. All day. He wanted a Strawberry Frapacino. He got it. One of mom's special smoothies, it was his. Frozen creamy treats were the name of the game. And lots and lots of cuddles.

The rest of the week, for lunch, I trundled up to the school and brought him frozen libations. (This has an added bonus cause I got to peek in on the life of my sixth grader's lunch). I was not allowed to stay for long cause you know like I'm mooooommmmm. But still for a brief moment they let me say "Hello." And I got to see the "guys" he speaks about. And it brought a silver smile to my little ones face. Win and win and win again.

On Friday, we wrapped up this magical journey of teeth with giving away all the uneaten candy to his buddies.

And the week ended on a high note. Cause he was the hero. Not just to me and dad but his buddies and to himself cause he said, "I was able to watch them eat it mom, and not have a bit myself."