Flashback Friday!

Well, tomorrow is Friday… but Flashback Thursday did not sound as good as Flashback Friday.  Anyway, our younger son who is the one sporting the orthodontic headgear has had the contraption on his face non-stop since he got it.  I didn’t think he would be this diligent, especially after the first night when he said it made his entire top row of teeth hurt!  Tonight I found out why he is wearing it every moment he can…. my husband calculated how much it will cost if he has to wear it for the full nine months…. and he told Keeve that he will PAY HIM if he gets it off early!  Bribery is alive and well in my God-fearing home. And can I just add here that money talks in this house!

This reminded me of another bribe-gone-bad from a few years back.  Both my boys were scheduled at the dentist on the same morning.  The dentist looked at our older son’s teeth and announced that one tooth, which was already loose, needed to be pulled.  He quoted me $60 to pull the loose tooth.  I phoned my husband to give him the update and he asked to talk to our son.  They talked.  Then hung up.  I asked what was going on!  My money-saving husband told our son that he would pay him $30 to pull the tooth himself!  A savings of $30!  Of course, our son was all for the $30 tooth pulling plan and started pushing and prodding the loose tooth.

Back I went to the other son in the next room and sat with him during his cleaning.  After a while, son#1 called out my name, “MOM!”  I went in there to discover a bloody hand holding the prized $30 tooth.  I was not surprised.

After cleaning #2 son’s teeth, the dentist reappeared in the room of son #1 who was still holding his freshly extracted canine.  The dentist was a bit surprised (and probably sad at losing and easy $60) and had a peak in my boy’s mouth.  His next comment made me laugh all the way home (just like the little wee-wee-wee piggy!)  “Son, you pulled the wrong tooth.”  It was all okay in the giant dental picture, as it was coming out soon and was loose as well. 

So we arrived home with the $30 tooth still in his head and a free tooth in his hand.  My husband gave him two days to pull the other one, or the $30 deal was off. At the end of day two the money exchanged hands and the Big Indian Tooth Fairy (my husband) was busy twice in one week!

Oh, the joys of parenting with purpose!

It Ain’t What it Used to Be

Yesterday was not only my eldest son’s golden birthday (14 on the 14th) but it was my youngest son’s introduction to headgear.  Eeeegads.  My brother wore headgear in the late 1970s, but times have changed and so has headgear.  I’ve made a solemn promise never to post pictures on facebook…. or my blogs.  A mother’s got to protect the dignity of her children, after all.  I also promised son #1 that if he made fun of son #2 I would make some headgear for him to wear and pictures would be broadcast for all to see.  (I’m the nice mom, remember?)

So, the purpose of the contraption is to pull the entire upper bridge, including attached cheek bones, forward… while holding the forehead and chin where they are.  I’ve never seen anything like it.  At least it’s a pretty blue color.  :o)  Dr. Ortho said that our son didn’t need to wear it to school.  I said, “Oh yes he does!”  Yet another advantage to homeschooling…. cutting headgear time down by two-thirds.  He even wears it to sleep.  Not my idea of a good time, but he’s coping well.

Every time I see Mr. Headgear, I am surprised by the metal bar dissecting his face.  Hopefully I’ll get used to it… it just looks so much like a transformer, or a cling-on, or a muzzle.  I’m the mom, though, so I still think he’s cute.  I told him at bedtime that we actually do need to take a picture of him wearing the headgear so his children will know how we tortured him.  That’s what parents do.

14 Seconds of Important Information

Today was supposed to be the day I call our adoption case worker in Texas to find out what is happening with our adoption of our little Zaza.  At 9:00 am I instructed all three children to remind me at 11:00 to call Texas!  Bah!  I need to set the kitchen timer next time.  I called ten minutes late…. after frantically stopping my reading of Charlemagne and William the Conqueror, dropping the book and yelling, “What time is it?!” 

I got the Texan answering machine.  Shoot. 

Since the children were preoccupied making papier mache Medieval helmets and crowns in the backyard, I called the ortho for a consultation for Keeve.  The ortho receptionist is quite thorough in her appointment making procedures…. and while I was reciting every number, name and code word associated with our dental plan, my cell phone was ringing… and ringing… and yes, it was our case worker.  Shoot!  But the ortho consult is a go.

So again, while the children were coating their clothing, each other, the picnic table and one son’s black SLIPPERS (what in the world?) with floury/watery paste, I dialed the Texas number once more.  Nada.  I left message #2.

Working my way through my To-Do list, I put in another call for a class at our church.  While the kind lady was giving me ALL the information, my cell buzzed that there was a voice message.  I was beside myself with inquisitiveness, bailed on the kind church lady and told her we’d sign up online.  Click. 

Finally, NEWS.  Well, 14 seconds of adoption news that will affect our family for our entire lives….. (drum roll, please)… we have moved from #19 to #15 on the wait list.  Whooo HOoooo!  Progress!  What that means is: since Oct. 25th, ONLY FOUR kids from the 5-6 age group have gone home to their forever families!  ONLY FOUR!  Now before I totally hyperventilate and slam the keyboard keys right through the computer desk, we need to remember that the courts in Colombia close from Dec. 15 to Jan 15…. so it’s really four kids in two months time.  If ICBF stays at that rate (which is so unpredictable because of multiple variables…. but I digress) our name should hit the top of the list in seven months… AUGUST!  Oh, not that my timing or planning have anything AT ALL to do with this, but leaving Phoenix to pick up our Zaza for the month of August would be a dream come true! 

It’s time for me to break out the little tea party table and chair set that I have all primed to paint cutesy for Zaza’s room.  It has waited for months in the garage for news that we are #15.  Well, actually for any news….    Fifteen sounds so far away, but it means that 2010 is HER year!!!!  So excited.