I know I say this at some point every single month, but I literally cannot believe we’re already past the halfway point of January. Anyone else? Between the nebulous start to the new year while the kids were still off school and then sliding straight into having company in the house, I feel like half my brain (and body) is still in Christmas mode.
(On that note: I am MISSING THE TREE. I’m glad it’s down because I know I need to move on, but I really, really miss that giant concentration of twinkle lights in the corner. The mantle is nice, but… it’s not the same.)
Let’s dive into Happy Things from the week.
FAMILY VISIT
I’ll do a full recap next week, but we had such a great time with my sister. It was a short visit, but it was incredibly sweet. We’ve been texting each other inside jokes from their stay all week, and that feels really special. I’m so appreciative that she took the time—and spent the money—to come visit.
PICKLEBALL
This has been so much fun! And I continue to be beyond impressed with Indy’s mature behaviour. I don’t think you could take every 11-year-old to an adult sporting evening and have them be so warmly received. He has great athletic skills, but more importantly, incredible self-regulation (at least in this context!). There are some big personalities, and he handles them with ease.
ALMOST DONE WITH ORTHO
Belle continues to slay (as the cool kids say) at having braces. She rarely complains, and she continues to get straight A’s on her hygiene. Our next appointment (in mid-February) is TO HAVE THE BRACES COME OFF!!!
For me, the time has actually flown (she’s had them for almost 2.5 years at this point), but I am so excited for her. We have two appointments in one day: first to get the braces off, and then later in the day to get her day retainer.
Braces are definitely a major investment of time and money, but her bite is fixed, we never had to remove a molar (even though she didn’t have space for it to come in because of an abscessed tooth removal when she was a kiddo), and a tooth that was majorly recessed has been pulled forward. Huge win.
Indy has a dental visit coming up soon, and I’m fully expecting them to recommend ortho. Sigh.
FIGS
It truly warmed my heart to read everyone’s FIGs on Monday. Thank you so much for the positive response to my announcement. I’m really excited to get this “challenge” started.
*Challenge doesn’t feel right. What’s the word I’m looking for here??
TRIP PROGRESS
Chalk this up as yet another thing I want to do an update post about! There was genuine forward progress this week. John and I:
- booked our Airbnb for Helsinki
- sorted out which ferry to take from Finland to Sweden
- finalized dates for my brother and SIL to visit Helsinki, and dates for us to visit them in Copenhagen
- found someone to tend to our plants while we’re away
- fleshed out detailed plans for Munich, Vienna, Brno, and Bratislava
- created a framework for Copenhagen, Helsinki, Wales, London, and Prague
- got Canadian phone numbers via Fongo, moving us closer to being 2FA-ready for Europe
- I called about house and car insurance and got that sorted
- I made hair appointments for both kids prior to our trip
- I scheduled a dental cleaning for Indy before our trip
- I basically finished all the communication with both schools regarding pulling the kids for the rest of the academic term
It felt really good to see things coming together. There are so. many. details… but we’re making progress!
BONUS HAPPY THINGS
- Teaching Indy how to find and measure his pulse. He found this fascinating and was thrilled to discover the difference between his resting heartbeat and after running around the house for a few minutes. The wonders of science and the human body coming to life!
- Strawberry and rhubarb. How I love that combination.
- Deep sleep. My deep sleep is usually terrible, but one night I was so tired (coincidentally, I slept on my back the whole night—I’m usually a side/belly sleeper) and logged well over an hour of deep sleep—unheard of for me. I felt so rested. I need to crack the deep-sleep code because this is a big issue for me.
- My sister brought us a giant bag of Albanese Gummy Bears (I’m not a huge candy fan, but these are SO good). Indy loves them, too 🙂
And that’s a wrap on my Happy Things this week.
It’s your turn!
- Who here had braces? Can you remember the relief of getting them off? Tell me what I need to know about retainers. I do not want this hard, expensive work undone, so I’m assuming I need to be militant about making sure she wears hers?
- I’d love to hear five Happy Things about your week!
- Is anyone else obsessed with pickleball?
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No braces or retainers here, so I can’t help. My kids go to orthodontist because of a concern, and then thr issue clears up. We are all blind as bats without glasses, do not having braces our compensation!
I think its interesting though- when Iwas younger people hated getting braces. Once my oldest kids hit junior high, though, the kids in their classes were thrilled or at least neutral to get braces. And many more kids seem to get them. I wonder what shifted?
One happy thing – I got almost 8 hours of sleep last night. That hasn’t happened for ages. ( back to a rotten night tonight though!)
Enjoy the weekend!
Yes, my kids have less-than-ideal teeth but so far their vision is great (mine was not). I never had braces and have a gap in my teeth… but I wore glasses for several decades before getting laser surgery! There’s always something.
EIGHT HOURS, that’s amazing. I hope that means your daughter slept well and maybe the CPAP machine stayed on the whole time?
Your sister’s visit sounds so sweet! I love that the inside jokes are still going strong a week later.
Belle’s braces coming off is such a huge win. I had Invisalign for a few years and now have retainers behind both my upper and lower teeth for the last 7–8 years. They work amazingly well, I never even notice them, and the dentist and hygienist just work around them. Looking back, all the effort was so worth it. So happy for Belle!!
Your trip planning makes me feel productive just reading it…so many details falling into place! You won’t get everything perfect, but if 60–80% is sorted, you’ll be just fine.
My happy thing: back in sunny Cape Town and looking forward to a race on Sunday!
She is getting a permanent wire… I think just on one level? Can’t remember. I hope they’re not too much of a nuisance for her brushing teeth??
I have to remind myself that there is no perfection on this trip, just aiming for enjoyable moments!
Enjoy the race (I’m jealous of the sunshine. It has been grey and cloudy here for days. Blergh.)
Yes to forcing her to wear her retainer. I had braces as a teenager, and I was NOT good about wearing my retainer, and my mom didn’t nag me about it. Now here I am, in my 40s, wearing Invisalign to straighten my teeth again after they moved back over the years. It’s not fun!
Okay! I will be the nag 🙂 Eventually I suppose it’s her responsibility (as an adult) if they shift back but I would hate for that money to feel “wasted”…
She is getting some permanent wires so I wonder if that helps and maybe lessens the importance of a retainer? I’m sure they’ll tell us all about it at our final appointment.
Happy Friday! My biggest happy thing is being in New Orleans. They know how to get over the post-Christmas slump, and it’s called Mardi Gras. I thought it was just a day and it’s actually a season. On Jan 6th Christmas decorations go do and Mardi Gras decorations go up! Also I was fascinated to learn that the Acadians were the early settlers, so you would feel right at home here.
Yes it is awesome when the braces come off! I think the secret to getting a kid to wear a retainer is to hope for the best. I think Belle will rock it – sorry I mean she will slay it. She was good with her braces so I feel that she will be (mostly) compliant at the last step.
The thing about time flying is that you’re going to blink and it will be time to GO to Europe and then five minutes later the months will have passed and you’ll be back home! It’s crazy how fast the time goes.
TGIF!
Yes! MANY of the deported Acadians went to Louisiana!
I’m hoping for compliance! It’s all part of it being integrated into her routine. And I will pester her about it but also know it will go much smoother if she “buys in”…
Time really does fly which can be both a relief and sad/terrifying!
Two of my kids had the full braces for teeth and overbite. It really worked for the overbite, but the teeth . . . sigh. No one ever bothered to tell us that unless you plan on wearing a retainer for the rest of your life, your teeth WILL shift. My son wore his all through high school, but did not take it to college (and I really didn’t blame him). Within one year, the retainer didn’t even fit because of the shift. My daughter wore her retainer for probably 10 years and then it cracked and we never went back to the ortho. Her teeth fared better, but the bottom have definitely shifted. I was just glad to be done driving to their office after doing it for 20 years!!!
Argh. So frustrating after all the time, money, and upkeep. I will hope for the best and plan on her teeth shifting some. She IS having a wire on some of her teeth so I hope that keeps them from shifting too much. I need to spend more time talking to the orthodontist about next steps and how to keep them aligned!
That is a lot of different gummy bear colors! Usually there are just six or something. I love the rainbow! Yay for getting some more travel planning done; I know that it can be a full time job! I am so excited for your trip and I know you are going to have such a good time. Are you going to book everything in advance or will you have some open spots on the calendar to fill later?
Happy things for me include being on a long bike ride, which is an adventure, but also makes me amazed at what I can do both mentally and physically sometimes! I also had a nice chat with my family, and have been eating a ton of great food!
It is SO much work (much of mental… juggling all the different things and I’ll randomly be doing a task and remember something related to the trip.)
We will have some spots to fill but it’s mostly organized with most accommodations booked and sorted. But itineraries will be flexible within the time slots we have figured out for each location.
Happy travels, my friend!!!
We’ve had four kids go through braces and retainers so far (I went through it myself too), and my only advice is to make sure they don’t throw out their retainer at school. Both times it happened because they wrapped up their retainer in a napkin to eat their lunch, then threw it out forgetting what was inside. So maybe ALWAYS put it back in the container and then put the container in the lunchbag or backpack right away? Digging through cafeteria trash is no fun (says my kids!) After it happened a couple times, we just had that kid only wear his retainer at night, and that worked out fine. As soon as it breaks or they stop wearing it in high school/college, their teeth will move. I wore mine until I was about 25 and then lost it but my teeth stayed in place. Wow I guess I could write a whole post about braces – sorry! And congrats to Belle for being so close to the finish line, she’s going to look so much older to you when they come off!
Eeks! I can see if being so easy to misplace retainers when you have to wear them during the day. Thanks for the heads up because I don’t think it would have crossed my mind.
I am so excited for her! And yes, I think she’ll be much happier about smiling in pictures once she no longer has teeth covered in scratchy metal.
WEAR THE RETAINER! I am a seasoned veteran over here. The boys both had braces, both for much longer than anticipated. Mark’s because his ortho was dumb and thought it wouldn’t take that long, and Jake’s because it was Covid and he went through long periods where he couldn’t get them adjusted, and then the ortho put the hooks for the elastics ON THE WRONG TEETH and he was so good and wore his elastics all the time and then his teeth got TWISTED because of this mistake but it took months to fix because COVID AND WE COULDN’T GET ANY DAMN APPOINTMENTS. Ahhhh I feel like screaming just typing that out. Anyway. Both have been great at wearing their retainers because when they were in karate one of the young instructors had told them that she had to get braces three separate times because she didn’t wear her retainer. THREE. I can see making a mistake once but…anyway, the thought of going back to braces was significant enough for them to wear their retainers, and they still do. Jake grinds his teeth at night so he has had to have a special one made (he ground through at least two that I can think of). Also, both boys have the permanent wire retainer on their bottom teeth. Mark’s has broken once or twice. I don’t remember any of the other questions you asked because of the whole braces thing. Hang on.
Lololol pickleball – when people get into pickleball they GET INTO PICKLEBALL! I am not into it but I support it!
Nicole, your experiences with braces sound SO TRAUMATIC. I remember Covid and ortho being a whole thing but somehow think I missed the memo about them putting the slots for elastics in the wrong place. WHAT???
THREE?? Well, unfortunately for Belle this is a one-shot rodeo for her in terms of us paying so I hope for her sake she keeps up with it. I think Belle will have some wire on top or bottom (can’t remember). I really need to invest more time in talking with ortho about AFTER care. We were so excited to get to the finish line but I’m realizing from these comments it’s not really a finish line, it’s just the start of another (LIFE LONG) race.
I actually had braces twice! The first time I just had my front/top teeth and a headgear – which was SO much fun to wear.
After a brief break for more teeth to finish coming out (my molars came in and fell out SO slow), I got a full mouth of braces.
I had a lot of problems with my retainers, because the braces did not truly fix my bite issues, and I grind my teeth at night = the retainer would come loose and scratched up the entire inside of my mouth. My ortho would not give me permanent retainers because of my TMJ (this argument STILL does not make sense: having those retainers over my teeth was far worse for the bite), and I had to bail … as a result, my bottom front teeth have overcrowding issues still, but the top are nice and straight 🙂
Happy things this week: more pansy blooms are starting to appear AND they’re slowly getting taller! 😀
I’m also in the final stages of prepping book crochet squares before I start joining them together for the blanket 😀
Headgear. Oh my goodness… I just can’t imagine! Sorry to hear about all your issues. Sigh. I am feeling a bit less enthusiastic about braces coming off because clearly it is only the start of the saga!
I cannot WAIT to see your finished blanket. I still think it’s an absolutely genius idea.
I would say FIGS is a “project”, not a “challenge.”
Yes, I remember what a relief it was to get the last kid out of braces- actually the thing I remember most was making the LAST payment to the orthodontist, ever. That was my favorite moment. On that note, all you have to tell Belle is that if she doesn’t wear her retainer the teeth will revert to their old position and she’ll have to GET BRACES PUT ON AGAIN. That fact has made both my kids highly motivated to wear their retainers, forever (retention is for life! It’s worth it!)
Yes, I’m glad to have the Christmas tree down because I know I need to move on (I like the way you put that). For me, it’s such a sad process to take everything down, it’s s relief when it’s over. Having said that… I still have a few Christmas stragglers around my house, like the other night I was wearing Christmas pajamas. End of January is my goal for having EVERYTHING put away. And yes- for once, January seems to be going by quickly for me!
Project! Love that reframe. I *knew* challenge wasn’t the right word.
Yes to sad and relief comingling… basically for a solid month + after Christmas. I am still wearing Christmas/wintery jammies though. But that tracks in Canada where winter basically starts at Christmas time and we have a long slog of cold, snowy weather ahead of us.
I had braces twice, first as a tween and then again in my early 30s because I didn’t wear the retainers and developed a cross bite which started to cause me occasional pain. So yea, wear your retainers is the answer! And yes, retainers do wear out, so you should factor that into the budget. I usually have to replace mine every 2-3 years, about USD $400.
I look forward to reading about your travel adventures!
Ugh. Teeth can be so much work. I was spoiled with no issues with my teeth (other than having to get a few pulled as a kid). But I don’t grind my teeth, don’t have bit issues, etc. I wish my kids had inherited by jaw!
I second this! Wore it at night until I was married and then because I had someone to talk to at night, I got bad about wearing it and eventually didn’t fit. But my teeth didn’t move much after that point! I also have a permanent retainer on my lower teeth. It’s just a bar glued to the back of my teeth. Funny story: I was flossing 2 weeks before my wedding and I heard a pop and something skitter across the floor and in my panic, visions of getting married with a gap tooth smile flashed before my eyes!! It was just the metal bar came out and I was married with a perfect (expensive!) smile and they replaced the bar a few weeks later. Phew!
She is getting a bar which feels… helpful and also like yet another thing to manage. Fingers crossed it goes smoothly. I think anything will feel like a relief for her after caring for braces for 2.5 years!
I live near the Albanese factory in northwest Indiana, about an hour outside Chicago. They do have a store and giant bags of “seconds” for $10 if you are ever in the area! I had never heard of them until I moved to the area 20 years ago and now my whole family enjoys sharing pictures when we encounter them in the wild!
This is too funny!
They really are the absolute best gummy treat I’ve ever had and we always stock up on them when we’re in South Carolina.
Never heard of those gummy bears. Do they have different flavors? The colors are very appealing, but I don’t think that sort of candy is worth bothering with (If it ain’t dark chocolate, it ain’t worth the calories!)
I knew a woman whose family couldn’t afford braces for 2 so only her brother got his buck teeth fixed. The orthodontist told the little girl to push on her teeth with her fingers every day, and when I met her around age 50, she didn’t have buck teeth. So either it worked, or she was a big storyteller. I think it worked.
Happy things:
1. My website worked intermittently this week. That’s an improvement over not working at all. I MUST find a new host/server, but dread all the looking and computer time.
2. While it is foggy down the hill, it is brilliantly sunny here in the foothills.
3. My best friend from high school and her husband will be renting the house across the street from us for 2 weeks to escape winter on the edge of Canada where they live. We found each other the 2nd semester of our senior year and have built and maintained a strong friendship despite the distances, starting in college when I went south and she went north. I came home, and eventually she moved farther north. Now neither one of us have family around here, so she doesn’t automatically come to visit her parents, which makes it especially wonderful when we get together.
4. Today I get to work on the library mural. . . the petty bureaucrats at the county won’t give me a key to the building so I only get to work on it one day a week. The library is only open 2 days, and one is the day when I teach drawing lessons, so this project is definitely on the slow boat. Their choice. It all pays the same. . . as long as I can finish it before the weather gets hot. . . The library has zero visitation, so although I am very thankful for the work, the county is wasting money putting makeup on a corpse.
Yup. They’re all different fruit flavours and are very soft and delicious. I’m not a huge candy fan and don’t go out of my way for gummies, but these ones are a delicious treat once in a while.
That story is HILARIOUS! I am so curious if it worked, if she’s lying, or if they just naturally corrected themselves over time. Fascinating.
Tech stuff is the worst. I feel so much dread on your behalf 🙁 I wonder if my e-mail ever did come through? I sent one about hosting but it returned to me and said it couldn’t be delivered… and of course I can’t e-mail to check if it went through.
How wonderful to get to spend close to a dear friend!
You aren’t mincing words about the mural. Makeup on a corpse is a telling description, but hopefully this breaths some fresh life into the area. And it looks stunning from the pictures you’ve posted.
Your list of happy things made me smile!
I love Gummy Bears—they are my candy/snack of choice.
I had braces. Both my girls had braces. The most important thing is to Wear Your Retainers, and don’t skimp on the time you should be wearing them, or you will have to start over! (Lindsay did this and had to get Invisalign in her mid-20s. Never finished them properly and at 30 is still working on it!)
Girl, you are doing all the things prepping for this big Event in your lives! Europe. Squeal! It hurts my brain just thinking of all the stuff you have to do.
Have you tried Albanese? They are the best. So soft and don’t require so much hard jaw work 😉
OH MY GOODNESS. I feel like I have been scammed. Braces clearly are not really a long-term solution at all. Gah. I’m starting to stress about this.
My brain sometimes hurts, too!!!
So many good things, but I just have to laugh at the mention of Albanese candy: I know someone from that family, she lives here! I met her at the Newcomers Club, and she used to donate a gift basket for the monthly giveaways at lunches. Small world! Their stuff is really good.
I’ve never had anything else made by the company, but their gummy bears are NEXT LEVEL!
Maybe instead of challenge.. mission, focus, or quest?
I got the four-front braces on in second grade along with an expander, which was replaced by a full-mouth set plus expander (and rubber bands! and springs between some teeth!); I didn’t have a metal-free mouth until almost eighth grade. I was good about wearing my retainer for a few years, but I don’t think it came to college with me. By the time I got engaged in 2015, I decided to get (clear) braces put on my top teeth to realign a bit. Had them on for a year, and now I wear my retainer once every week or two and the teeth seem to be mostly accepting of that! I also had a wire installed inside my front bottom teeth in middle school, and the one warning I’ll give about that is to stock up on the floss that you can thread through the gaps underneath the wire. I had a few early dental appointments where they weren’t happy about the lack of flossing underneath that permanent retainer!
Two happy things from upstate NY:
– even though it’s about 20* outside, the sun is shining, which has been a rarity lately!
– I get to visit the Adirondacks this weekend and hike a few mountains. 🙂
Have a lovely weekend!
Quest!! Mission!! Love those ideas.
I am a bit worried about the permanent retainer; but she has had GREAT luck with her Waterpik so may just have to keep using that??
Enjoy your hikes!!
I vote for FIGS initiative!
Neither my husband or I had braces, although mine are slowly seeming more crowded, or maybe I just notice it more than I used to? But our kids will most likely need some correction for their teeth… it hasn’t come up yet and I’m dreading it.
Can’t wait to hear more about your Europe trip! I’ll be living vicariously through it! Will your husband still be working most or all of the time you’re there? How will that affect sightseeing etc?
John will take about one week off each month but the rest of the time he’ll be working. We’ll see how that all evens out since we’ll all be in our apartment for a stretch of each day while he works/the kids do homework. Both month-long stays we’ve opted for 2-bedroom apartments, so that way there is a bit more space. I think they both have desks, too.
I will definitely do some things with the kids during the day while he works, but I suspect most of our little day trips will happen on the weekends when he’s off work.
Yay for Belle! And good job on the dental hygiene; my youngest has braces (the only one of my four who’s needed them), and we’re very happy when the orthodontist praises his brushing and flossing. I had braces, and had retainers for a couple of years afterwards, but not permanently…one of my teeth has shifted since then, but I don’t mind it. My youngest had to have two teeth extracted before he could do braces–we had his wisdom teeth out at the same time–so we’re really hoping the braces do their trick. They seem to be helping.
My happy thing today is that my husband was able to fix the shower in the vacation house we’re renting from my friend. She had texted me that the previous tenants told her it was ‘dripping’ and she said she could call a plumber for us, but DH offered to take a look. It was not just ‘dripping” but a steady stream. He found the water shut off switch, poked around, determined it was the shower cartridge, and found a part at the local hardware store. All fixed! She’s happy, and I’m happy that we were able to make the house more peaceful for her when she heads down here in a couple of weeks.
Other happy thing: our hike around a state park today, and seeing pelicans for the first time, a whole flock of them just sitting and chilling out together!
Can you send your husband here to fix our shower issue??? Haha! That’s wonderful for your friend and I’m sure you feel so happy to have been able to help.
Enjoy your vacation.
I did not have braces since my top teeth were straight enough. My bottom teeth are not, though. I could pay to get braces as an adult but it’s not noticeable enough for me to throw money at the problem!
My happy thing is that Will has not woken us at night for almost 2 weeks. And he’s been waking on his own and coming downstairs to color. It is so so wonderful to not wake to him yelling for us to come and get him.
Your Europe trip is really coming together. The number of to dos sounds so overwhelming so it must feel good to knock some out every week!!
Lisa, this is HUGE!!! What a major development. I am beyond thrilled.
I am feeling a bit less stressed about all the logistics for our trip. As I cross more things off the list it feels a bit less overwhelming!
I loved reading your happy things of this week. It must have been so great to have your sister around.
I had braces, or I guess what you call retainers, not the ones attached to your teeths. I was still glad to not need to wear them anymore. Will Belle need to wear retainers indefinitely??
I know so many people right now obsessed with pickleball LOL (I think I mentioned that we have a court in our neighborhood but we haven’t tried it out yet. It is always busy though.)
I think she will have day retainers (like Invisalign) for a while, but I suspect the night retainer should be used…forever??
We have really enjoyed pickelball. Very accessible for different ages and abilities!
Hooray for Belle’s braces coming off and for you accomplishing so much for your upcoming travel. So exciting.
I did Not have braces but my kids did. I anticipate the ortho will explain how important it is to wear the retainer.
Happy things: (just commented on the FIG post so this is repetitive).
Making a flight despite horrid unexpected snow storm
Good visit in Tampa.
Sleeping well in Tampa even though curly and I shared a bed. (Room had one king)
Tank was gifted a handful of tickets to the Bears game. Huge!
Hooray for all these happy things. They bear repeating <3
Hello, I’m loving your blog but this is my first time commenting because I had to say – BE MILITANT! I had braces for three years and I am soooo glad my parents made me wear my retainer because my teeth have not moved. They were not as strict with my younger sister and well…. lets just say she wishes she would have worn her retainer. Thank you for heartfelt posts.
Hi Taylor <3 Thanks for much for commenting, and I really appreciate you chiming in to drive home just how important it is to wear the retainers!!!
Sigh. I am getting the memo loud and clear that the retainer is a MUST and how easy it will be for her teeth to shift back. I'm on it! I'm hoping since she's been so good about taking care of her braces she'll be compliant about the retainer?? Hopefully????
I am with you on missing the tree! We just took ours down a few days ago and the house feels bleh now. I will get used to it. I am thinking about trying Pickleball out this year. It is on my 26 list! The deep sleep is also a challenge for me, but I have been taking Magnesium Threonate and that has definitely seemed to help. That and big Vitamin D dose! Hope it continues for you!
Yes! My house still feels very “Bleh” – that’s it exactly.
I haven’t been taking magnesium as frequently lately and need to get back into the routine. I do take Vitamin D daily, though! I didn’t realize that might help with deep sleep!
Cooper has stopped wearing his retainer, and it sort of makes my head explode. Dorothy is through with round 1 of braces to expand her palate but will need them AGAIN ARE YOU KIDDING ME. Harryis done and probably doesn’t wear his retainer anymore, and Jack did not need them…
I am crossing all my fingers and toes Minnie doesn’t need braces!
I have a feeling if Indy gets braces it will be a MUCH rougher journey. Belle is a pretty good rule-follower and cares about these sorts of things. And, well, Indy is a typical boy – haha.
Nice work on making so much progress in Operation Temporary Move to Europe! It’s always so good to see progress on something with a million moving parts and things to do. How are you feeling in terms of getting ready to go etc?
I’ve been in the midst of a huge declutterring project in our basement. Feels like all my spare time has been going to that and I find it exhausting in many ways (especially physically!) so I’ve been reading but not really commenting as by the time I get a chance I’m just wiped. But! I’m seeing some light at the end of the tunnel and it’s starting to get very satisfying to see the progress. Apparently this is my big nesting urge with this baby LOL.
Happy things for me besides the decluttering project progress include:
-A fun game night with friends this week.
-A couple nice walks with the kids in the relatively warm weather this week.
-Anna suddenly got six new words this week! Interestingly they all have a sound in common which is something I’ll be mentioning to her speech therapist at her upcoming appointment as I feel like this might be a part of the answer to the puzzle of her speech issues.
I love this: “Operation Temporary Move to Europe” <3
I'm feeling pretty good, though there are moments of paralysis and a lot of "hurry up and wait."
Yay for decluttering and I'm sure it will feel soooo good to have this done before baby arrives!
That's wonderful news re. Anna's words!
I had braces and wore my retainer for a couple of years but then gave it up. My teeth have shifted some, but they’re mostly fine. My daughter had braces too, and wore her retainer for a couple of years, but doesn’t anymore. The thing is, is this something you want to do for the rest of your life? Maybe, it will keep the teeth straight. But maybe not. Quality of life, you know? Will my daughter need to get Invisalign at some point in the future? Time will tell.
Of course the ortho will tell her that she needs to wear it forever, but I wonder if there is a time period that is more important…like, she’s still growing, is it more important for her to wear it until that is finished? Is it important to you that her teeth remain perfectly straight, after the pain and money and effort? Is it important to her to have perfectly straight teeth? We had none of these conversations. It was important to me at first, because of the pain and the money and everything, but as time went by, I felt like it was my daughter’s body, and her decision. Honestly she wore the retainer a lot longer than I thought she would.
I think I’ll land where you have; I want her to use it consistently at first, but also doubt she will be wearing it in her 30s and at that point, frankly, it’s her problem not mine!
I’m curious how she’ll handle wearing the retainer. She has been so good about braces care…maybe she’ll be highly motivated??
I wasn’t on the ball enough to nag my kids to wear their retainers. Eve is militant about wearing hers, she says she feels like one night off makes a difference. Angus stopped for a while then asked to get another one. I didn’t wear mine for very long. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking, but there is a small space between my front teeth now and I hate it. Sigh.
I fully agree you should be really proud of Indy being able to self-regulate in sports at this age. I say this as someone who had a son with massive athletic talent but not great self regulation at that age. So well done. (What is Indy short for?)
it’s been a tough month for a number of reasons, but still not hard to find five happy things 1) my friends and how we pull each other through tough stuff 2)trip with my husband even though it’s not the one that was supposed to happen 3) exciting job news for Angus 4) long Facetime with Eve last night while I ironed talking about her life and movies and it felt like she was here 4) that amazing discussion on my library post this week.
Indy is just a blog nickname (and not actually his real name; ditto Belle!)
I am sorry you had to pivot with your trip (but can 100% appreciate why the planned trip was no longer wise). And yay for your kids thriving and still being incredibly engaged with you <3
I always wanted braces, but we couldn’t afford it. And now I am super self-conscious about my teeth and smile. I keep thinking about going through the process now, but ughhhh. So expensive!
Five happy things: seeing Jenny!, taking her to my fave bookstores, family time while watching playoff football, and finishing some great books this week.
I just read Jenny’s recap of your adventures. SO FUN!
Yay! Congratulations to Belle for making it through braces! I didn’t have braces, but I’ve been noticing that my bottom front teeth are getting more crowded. I guess teeth just move around! You have made a lot of progress on your trip plans, and I’m so excited for you! How wonderful to get enough deep sleep. I wonder if your trip will change anything about your sleep – it’ll be interesting to see.
I am so curious about my sleep while abroad (Kaethe mentioned something about wondering if I’ll sleep deeper, especially since I’ll be removed from the neighbourhood drama; it had never crossed my mind, so now I am soooooo curious!)