I took yesterday off because the Lone Star Baby's school was closed for conferences and the Lone Star Girl had her first orthodontic consultation in the afternoon.
The Lone Star Baby and I hung out together in the morning and after lunch, I took her to the babysitter who keeps her on work days when her school is closed, which is once a month or so. Then, I went to her school conference which was pleasant, except for the usual concerned comments on how little she eats. I share their concern but cannot force-feed her much more effectively than they can. I do what I can. I have taken to getting her milkshakes at drive-throughs when we run errands and am implementing a bedtime snack routine - I really try. The conference was mostly very pleasant, though. The Lone Star Baby is progressing well in her Practical Life Skills - her most recent accomplishment is cutting oranges in half, juicing them, pouring the juice for herself and a friend, straightening the area, inviting a friend to sit down with her for juice, then doing the dishes. I do love Montessori. She is also just beginning to choose some challenging academic work, like drawing, coloring and labeling the continents and making little books of the parts of the tree - I so love Montessori. Her teacher was pleased that she is starting to initiate such work, because she had previously had a tendency to mostly observe it, being, as the teacher said, very detailed, very perfectionist, very ... she said she didn't know the word in English. I refrained from offering very suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder. I know what she means. The Lone Star Baby's a girl who must be right and fears mistakes - pretty weird in our messy family. The teacher seems much less concerned about it than I am, though, so that's good.
Then I picked the Lone Star Girl up from school early for her appointment ... insert ominous music here, please. Her teeth are quite crooked and our dentist has been gently suggesting that we go to the orthodontist for a little over a year, now. Our dentist is a laid-back guy who is not interested in fixing things that don't need fixing so I know he doesn't make such suggestions lightly. I waited awhile because our dental insurance pays nothing for orthodontics the first year you have it (which was last school year) and then gradually increases the percentage it will pay, albeit with a ridiculously low lifetime cap of 1K. This is our year when it will pay up to a third but no more than $500. We went to the big, factory-like practice with the TVs and the gaming consoles which he recommended. I expect it is a cheap place, as they go - volume - as our dentist is into saving people money.
The Lone Star Girl was about as bratty as I have ever seen her. She was rude to everyone. I was appalled. She also told them, when they asked about her name, that she was named after the beverage. So charming. It took the ortho. a few tries to realize that her spiel on how much more she would care about the look of her smile when she got older was not going to go over well, but when she caught on, she quickly switched over to the more compelling medical necessity talk - as in you may live to be a hundred and you need a properly functioning bite if your teeth are to last. I'll admit that I myself have been a bit slow to feel that the new universality of braces is really necessary for people who don't have huge incomes (like ourselves) - it seems cosmetic and silly to me too, sometimes. I am no dentist, however, and feel I must bow to those who better know what they are doing - and so must Mimosa (who was named after the flowering tree in my late grandma's yard, thank you very much).
After a bit, it became clear to me that the Lone Star Girl was really very upset. I knew she didn't want braces, but she is not so wrapped up in appearances and I didn't realize it would be this traumatic. It became evident to me, though, as her behavior continued, that she is pretty freaked. And in no small part because of the money. That being the case, I sent her back to the waiting area while we discussed financing and tried to be gentle with her the rest of the evening. She got her molds made, has rubber band spacers between some teeth and an appointment to get the braces put on in mid-May if I can get her to the dentist for a cleaning before then. Lots to do, lots to cope with....
1 comment:
I almost spat up my coffee when I read that LSG told people she was named after the drink. I wonder how people named Midori feel? I had braces, too, in a family of 5 that was struggling to make ends meet. I'm thankful for them-- my family and my braces. One of the cool things about braces is that sometimes you get little rubber bands to hook on them, and those are very handy for other things--dolls' braids, holding little things together, etc.
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