On Monday, Jonah came down the stairs and honked at me. Instead of saying, “hi, mom,” he honked like a baby with croup, so I kept him home. We headed immediately to the pediatrician.
The doctor asked him what his symptoms were. He honked and then he said his throat hurt, had a cough and his eyes hurt.
“Your eyes hurt?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I told her. “He’s been complaining about that a lot lately”.
So, she gave him a strep test and an eye test. He passed the strep test, but failed the eye exam. Looks like glasses for little Jonah. Probably, not surprising since both Steve and I have crappy eyes, but we were hoping that he had escaped the myopia curse.
Later that afternoon, he seemed to be feeling better so I didn’t cancel the boys’ trip to the dentist. She polished his bottom teeth that have come up horizontally like shark teeth. Her brush navigated around the chasm between the front two. When I asked if he was going need braces, she laughed. Not so much with the professionalism, lady.
In one day, Jonah learned he needed glasses and braces. In one day, all chances of seamlessly sliding through his middle school years were dashed. He doesn’t seem to care, but he doesn’t know what he’s in for, yet.
Apt. 11d 
No one slides seamlessly through the middle school years, and if they did, they’d be crushed in high school. Just try to make sure the braces come off before the first day of 9th grade. Braces in high school – now THAT sucks.
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Sounds like this might have been a pretty bad day for you too, Laura. I prescribe a glass of wine and a large dose of Food Network.
I find kids’ views of orthodontia interesting, and very different from my personal experience. For me it was all about unimaginable pain and frequent, boring appointments. My niece, on the other hand, *asked* for braces because everyone was getting them. She felt left out. My sister just rolled her eyes and gave a speech about how orthodontists prey on Americans’ fixation with perfect teeth, and can always find something to improve.
Somewhat OT but did anyone else read the Times piece on Bernie Sanders, where he refers to bad teeth as a person’s “badge of poverty”?
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I didn’t read that, but I’ll google it. I never saw adults with missing teeth until I lived in an inner-city neighborhood.
Laura, both my kids have/had braces and it’s a badge of honor among their peers. EVERYONE gets them. But the earlier the better, for sure.
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