No more braces.

The final set of braces came off today. Our daughter got her's off a year ago and our son's came off today. I remember when we started the braces episode. I took them for appointments and xrays to see if they needed them and them I remember the estimate of the cost , 7000.00. I did not care about the sacrifice. I considered it an opportunity. I remember my husband wondering how on earth we could do it all. Braces , football , cars , cheerleading , bills , etc. I didn't worry about it for one second. I sat in the chair as they took the braces off of our son and remembered the first day we came for his impressions to be made and he gagged five times before they were able to get a good fit. Our daughter didn't have that problem. She asked everytime we went , "when am I going to get these off?" Our son never said a word. She wore her rubberbands. Our son seldom opened the package. I remember his shock when his sister came home without her braces. He was amazed. His had already been on a year longer than her. She beamed , "guess you wish you wore your rubberbands , don't you?" That was it. The bands started going on. Dr. Strickland teased Bill about not getting his off today. Bill never flinched. He just chuckled and said , "they look pretty straight to me." When the final cement was cleaned away , the assistant told Bill she needed to make impressions for his retainer. He responded with , "Good luck. It took five times the last time." They got it right the first time and we laughed about it. Their teeth look really nice and straight and I am so thankful we were able to do this for them. No , it doesn't make me a better parent because we put braces on our kids. What has mattered? Knowing we started this process four years ago and now the sacrifice seems so small compared to the benefits and the opportunity to share this stage of their lives. Something else to smile about.