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Silver Smile.

One day you have a baby and call him Weebie and the next day he is eleven years old in the sixth grade and getting braces. 

Braces! I vividly remember the day I got braces. I was Levi's same age, and one of my best friends was getting them too. She went to TGIFriday's to eat broccoli cheese soup right after she got hers put on since her teeth were sore, so we decided I should do the same. And boy, we thought we were big time with our metal mouths. We moved our lips in funny ways that we thought looked cool, claiming we "had to" because of our braces. We would tote our little packets of wax around to pull out at church so we could dramatically rip a piece off and smash it onto a bracket. Our friends stared in what we thought was awe and wonder, but looking back, I'm not so sure. 

My cousin got to have the rubber bands once that attached the top to the bottom. I could only dream of achieving that level of cool. I did get the springs one time, though. That was the next best thing to rubber bands. My friend and I would plan to get matching colors all the time so we could be twins, always coordinating the color to the month. October looked like we spent the whole month eating Cheetos. 

I also asked for fake eye glasses that same year. Let me tell you, I was a vision in my giant red frames and pink and purple braces. All I needed was a cast on my arm and I would have been living the dream. When we played, I always told my friends I got to be Dawn from The Babysitters Club, since that is my middle name. But let's face it, I was the spittin' image of Mallory. 

Why I thought maladies and broken bones were the epitome of awesome is beyond me. Levi is ten times more normal than I was at his age. He got his braces slapped on with absolutely zero theatrics surrounding it. The most thought he even put into it is "ah bummer - I won't get to eat caramel and gummy bears for a year and a half. Oh well!" 

Must be a boy thing. Yeah, we’ll go with that. 

Come to think of it, I know it's a boy thing. A 14 year old brother-sister duo were in the office getting their braces on the same time as Levi, and the boy walked in and out as if he had just left the post office to drop off a package. No emotion at all. The girl, on the other hand, was scream-laughing the entire time. I'm not even exaggerating. She. Never. Stopped. Laughing. She walked in giddy as a fan girl at her favorite concert and (loudly) giggled her way through the entire process. When they gave her a mirror to see her new silver smile, I'm almost positive her shriek echoed throughout the entire 15 story building. It was so loud that the doctor putting on Levi's bracket jumped and scratched his gums! She then bounced out into the waiting room yell-laughing to her mom and giving everyone in the waiting room the toothiest grin she could muster. I've never seen anything like it. Ten bucks says she's seen a pair or two of fake eye glasses in her lifetime. 

Life is funny. The orthodontist we see is in the same building my OB/GYN was in that delivered my babies so long ago. She left years ago, and I hadn't been back in that building until now. When Levi was finished with his appointment and we were about to walk out to the car I said, "let's run to the restroom real quick, Weebs. Meet me by these elevators." When I walked into the restroom I was taken aback - instantly transported to twelve years ago. It was as if I entered a time machine - the room, the smell ... nothing had changed. I walked into that restroom before every single appointment, pregnant and nervously talking aloud to my baby, eager to soon see him on the ultrasound. This time I would walk out and that same boy would be waiting for me by the elevators, almost as tall as me and more wonderful than I ever could have dreamed. It was a surreal moment. Time is a thief, but every single minute - a gift. 

I am a modern day homemaker with a passion for family, cooking, celebrating, decorating, travel, and memory making! The Lord has blessed me with the desires of my heart in my husband and our two sons. We recently built our dream home and cultivating a loving and happy haven for my family is where I find so much joy.

Comments

  1. This is wonderful! I’m so glad you’re BACK!

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    1. Thank you! And man, I haven’t seen the One of Nettie’s Girls name in SO LONG!

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  2. So fun that you’re back! And I think we were the exact same at 11 also. Just add in a fake retainer instead of braces because mine came later! 🤣 That girl at Levi’s orthodontist though?! What in the world? 🙈 (This is Dana P but I can’t figure out how to log into my Google account on this!)

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    1. Hahahaha, kids are too funny. I did the fake retainer too and once tried it with a bent paper clip. Thanks for reading!

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  3. OMG we would have been besties in our youth! I used to put metal wire in my mouth as pretend retainers! and then I was SO COOL when I got real braces and purple glasses, along with my fake arm cast. My daughter now is nowhere near as weird...

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