Katy Brown is a wife, mom and part-time super-hero. She lives in a humble, cozy home with her SuperHub and three adorable kids. This is her blog.
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Aug 31
Tuesday
Hey, Brace Face!
As I’ve said before, I’m always going to be a 12 year old boy on the inside; Farts, poop and any reference to “nuts” will (almost) always make me giggle. But now it’s official, I have the mouth of a 14 year old girl.
Confession: I still have a baby tooth. My upper right canine.
I am 31 years young and proud that I have no cavities. For years, my dentists have high five’d this achievement. What they have then followed up with all these years is, “You might want to think about getting braces to make room for the beautiful permanent tooth poised to come in where that baby tooth is sitting.”
I ignored them. For more than half my life if you want to get all mathematical about things.
Finally, I met Dr. Awesome. No, it’s not his real name, but he is really awesome.
Today, I got braces. Twice actually.
Fun little story about that, which of course, includes me whipping up a batch of cookies.
Go to orthodontist, sit in the chair, get braces put on top teeth. My bottom teeth will be braced in 6 weeks, after the baby tooth extraction, arrival of PROMISED fake tooth until permanent tooth is delicately but firmly pulled into place. Are you still with me?
Easy does it, I am on my way home. I had noticed how barbaric the braces seemed, but really, just wanted to get home.
Walk in the door and see SuperHub. I give him my best smile.
Me: Am I purdy?
He: Yes, but I thought you were getting the clear porcelain braces?
Me: What, I did, didn’t I?
He: Nope, those are pure metal!
Me: Shut the front door. You’re messing with me. Right? You’re messing with me.
I ran to the bathroom and took a long gander in the mirror. Turns out he wasn’t joking. So I called the (adorable) staff at the orthodontist office (8 minutes after leaving) and explained that I thought I was getting clear porcelain braces. While I could use increased reception on my cell phone brought in by the metal ones, I jumped at their offer to have them re-done. So I whipped up a batch of my famous chocolate chocolate chip brownie cookies and was back to the orthodontist, into the chair. Dr. Awesome removed my braces and put on clear ones.
Doood.
Now I am set.
They hurt. Ohmigawd does my mouth ache. But I have hardly stopped smiling.
It’s awkward and goofy to get my lips to close and talk normally over the braces. With time, it will become normal. Today I had to make a conscious decision and a mindful choice. I am choosing to not be embarrassed, but to be proud. I will smile, giggle and enjoy this awkward time. In fact, I am going to get some new spectacles and sport pig tails to complete the look. It’s healthy for my kids to see a confident mom who might look a little different, but still embraces it with a positive self image.
In fact, when Maddy saw me this afternoon, she asked “Why did you have to get those?”
I paused and gave it some thought before replying. This is a teaching moment, don’t screw it up!
“Because they are going to give me a healthy smile.”
It would have been totally inappropriate for me to give her my real reason.
“Well honey, it was new teeth or new boobs. Daddy took some convincing but in the end, he would rather I have all my teeth than a perky set of Reginald Von Hoobie Doobies.”
- Posted By: pets
You go girl! Looking fantastic…
- Posted By: Courtney
Way to go! Having braces when you are a 30-31 year old mommy isn’t that bad! They’ll be off before you know it and you will be SO happy to have gone through the process!
- Posted By: T-Rish
Those look great on you, if I do say so myself!!! :) WE LOVE YOUR COOKIES, but I took them home so nobody else could have them and then I hid them in the microwave….sneaky and wrong all in the same moment. Thanks for the treats, hey were awesome, can’t wait to see you next month!
- Posted By: Ashley
braces rock as adults. I had them when I was in collage (and after I graduated…this was about 9 years after I had them the first time as a child). Although mine were the lovely metal ones as the clear wouldn’t hold up to the surgery I had…keep rocking that smile, the pain goes away eventually.
- Posted By: Janan Rustan
I don’t know what is more beautiful, your eyes or your smile? When I saw you today, I thought you looked so fabulous and I loved your excitement!
- Posted By: Kirsten
You look terriffic! I got mine a week before prom my senior year. I was devestated at the time, until I realized it gave me beautiful swollen lips….it looked as though I had silicone injections like the models do! I would make sure to invest in some chapstick for the next couple of weeks though.
- Posted By: Camie
OMG- Katie so happy for you. I have been thinking about getting braces for quite awhile. Then I found out how much they were. I can’t seem to justify that when I know I will have at least one if not two kids needing them soon. So happy for you though. Have fun at FFF.
- Posted By: Anne
What a beauty!
- Posted By: Katy
Thanks Pets! :D <- Big toothy grin! Oh and your resident cereal expert is correct on the graham cereal.
- Posted By: Katy
Thanks Courtney! You sound like a girl who knows what she is talking about. I am proud to have them. It’s one thing to tell your kids to take good care of themselves, it’s another thing to actually show them that you are taking good care of yourself too. :D
- Posted By: Katy
T-Rish – Yay! There is absolutely nothing wrong with hiding cookies. It’s encouraged at my house, or SuperHub and I would never get any! Thank you (all of your staff included) for being so (so so) great. I look forward to seeing you all soon! And I am happy to bring more treats!
- Posted By: Katy
Ashley – Sounds like you went through a lot with your teeth. I am sure you have a BEAUTIFUL smile! :D
- Posted By: Katy
Janan – You’re so wonderful. Thank you for your kind words and encouragement (as always), I am lucky to call you a good friend. For you, I will smile all the time. I PROMISE. :D
- Posted By: Katy
Kirsten – Sounds hot! :) Thanks for the tip, I didn’t think about chap-stick. A friend of mine keeps laughing at me because I said “I have asshole lips. And they don’t fit around my braces.” They are tiny thin little lips. If I crinkle them up, they look like, well…You get the idea.
- Posted By: Katy
Camie – Thank you! :) It was a tough decision financially for us too. The risk of eventually losing the baby tooth and having a cyst form around the permanent tooth (Eek) scared me. I would be Katy Brown The Toothless Wonder. Yeah, notsomuch. I was VERY pleasantly surprised that our insurance company covers $2k of the total cost. Our orthodontist office is wonderful and set up a payment plan to make it more affordable. We can set aside (pre taxed) extra money in our cafeteria plan next year to cover the remaining balance. If you want a referral, I would love to give you his name. Dr. Awesome can make your wish come true too! Pssst…You’re worth it. Every single penny.
- Posted By: Katy
Anne – I LOVE YOU. oxo
- Posted By: Lindsay.mcgowan@yahoo.com
You look fantastic! It cracks me up though that you had to get them twice… even more that you didn’t look in the mirror before you left the office!
- Posted By: Gina
Pretty awesome…very cute!