When you were growing up, did you have to wear braces?  I was one of the lucky ones who did not have braces. But at the time, since all my friends had braces, I felt left out.  I remember thinking that the braces looked so cool on my friends and so as middle schoolers, my neighbor and I rode our bikes around the neighborhood with foil on our teeth so that it looked like we had braces.  I’m sure that if we had social media at that time, we would have taken some selfies and posted the picture for all to see. Thank goodness I lived in the dark ages!

I’m a mom of adolescents now and my children both require(d) braces.  My son had braces and has since been able to remove them.  He still has to wear his retainer at night but he is happy he no longer has braces.  My daughter, on the other hand, just got braces. My children both go to Dr. Alvin Yoshida.

After a few consultation appointments over the course of a few months, my daughter finally got her braces.

I’mShe isn’t all that happy about getting the braces and in these first few days of the braces, she is not at all happy about the discomfort she feels and the difficulty she has while eating.  I’m sure the discomfort will pass quickly for her (even though it doesn’t feel like it to her today) and she will one day be happy with the straight teeth we hope she will have.

We tried making her feel better by taking her to lunch after the braces were put in. Maybe my daughter was not happy about how hard it was to eat, but I enjoyed my Caesar salad and bacon cheeseburger from Cronies.  Living Hilo Style.