Brace yourself!

Ok, so I was waiting, as we moms always do, for my daughter to get out of an ortho appt. Well, this was an appt. like no other, the braces are coming off!!!  After our visit two days ago, to get her retainer impressions and ordered, I started to really think about what today would mean. This past summer I started becoming painfully aware of how fast my kids are growing up.  And how there is not a thing in this world I can do to slow it down.  It is like being on a roller coaster with no brakes...hang on, hold tight and scream!

Back to the whole braces thing.  You see, only 2 1/2 short years ago, a gangling, crooked toothed little girl walked out of the waiting area and into a dental chair to get her braces on.  And when she came back out, she was still a crooked toothed kid, happily sporting a myriad of colored bands on her braces, eager to show her friends.  She was also somewhat apprehensive, a normal response when facing peers for the first time.  And today, after what does NOT feel like 2 1/2 years, a more poised, adolescent walked out into the same waiting area towards me.  After swallowing hard, and closing my awestruck mouth, I was painfully aware that time is flying faster than I had realized.  This was one more milestone passed on "our" journey as she grows up.  Thankfully, as only she can, she snapped me back to the "now."  As I stood there, I told her that I couldn't believe how she looked, and my face showed it. Then I told her that I was tearing up...and out it came, something to the effect of  "Mom, you are such a dork," complete with an eye roll!  So, there it is! Reality...She is still the little girl who thinks I am a dork, and won't miss a chance to tell me either!

I have decided to TRY and embrace these milestone rather than dread them.  They are unavoidable and I can either make myself crazy by seeing them in a horrible negative light or I can embrace them, and help usher her into them...just as long as I am not too big of a dork!!!