Avoid Extra Expenses by Following Instructions
BabyGirl just learned a really hard lesson. One of many more to come, I’m sure.
After spending two years and thousands of dollars on Orthodontia care, she was directed by the doctor to wear her retainers (top and bottom) everyday, all day for two weeks. After two weeks, both were to be worn during sleeping hours only but for the entire summer. For good measure and extra protection, the ortho also gave her a night guard (bottom), which is made of a harder resin, because he knew 1) she was a night time grinder and 2) if there were any problems, he wouldn’t see her for at least two months. If all went well, and after summer was over, she would only need to wear the night guard (bottom) during sleeping hours.
Simple instructions:
2 weeks: both retainers all day
Rest of summer: both retainers at night
Forever: night guard (bottom) at night
Simple process to follow:
Contacts out, retainer in.
Retainers out, contacts in.
She’s blind as a bat without her contacts (almost -4.00 in both eyes), so we thought this would be easy enough. But noooooooo…
Ms. Thing goes away for the entire summer and does NOT wear her retainers, per doctor instructions. The reason excuse? Either “she forgot” or it was “too hard to talk” when she wore them. After hearing this, I wanted to say “you should have tied a string on ya right finger or just be quiet all day!” but of course, I didn’t say that. You know…being the loving, caring, and patient mom that I am. *cough* As the summer progressed, she stopped wearing them COMPLETELY. You think my mother made her wear them? Nope! Well, guess what happens when braces are removed and you don’t wear your retainers?
YOUR TEETH SHIFT!!!
As a night time grinder, her bottom teeth pushed against her top teeth. As a result, the two top teeth - yep the ones in the very front - are pushing outward and one is turning inward. Can you say, U-G and L-Y? But you know what? They aren’t MY teeth, so I don’t care. HOWEVER - the thought of thousands of dollars gone down the drain pissed me off!! So I made her wear both retainers again - ALL DAY, EVERYDAY.
Problem is, the retainers were made from a mold when her teeth were in perfect position. Now it hurts and she cries. Other than giving her a few Motrin and telling her to stop the whining, think I care? Hmm…I’ll let you guess. Told ya I was a loving, caring, and patient mom. LOL!
After a week of “but maaaaa, it huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurts” I finally took her BACK to the orthodontist. By the way, this visit required me to take time off work during the busiest season of the year. When the ortho walked in, he said “BabyGirl, I won’t ask if you’ve worn your retainers this summer because teeth don’t lie.” She slumped in the chair and pouted like WE did something wrong. Hmph! After his examination, he told us we had two options:
- Braces go back on.
- A corrective retainer.
The first option would have cost me a grip, so I chose door #2. They had to take another mold, then send it to a lab to be “corrected” based on previous xrays and pictures. After two weeks and MORE time off work during the busiest season of the year, we had a new retainer - this one is called a corrective something ‘nother - with a bracket (not a wire, a freakin bracket!) at the top and it is supposed to move the crooked teeth back into place within 6 weeks. That is, IF she wears it all day, then combined with the nightguard at night.
The part that connects with the roof of her mouth is purple, her favorite color, it glows in the dark, and has Hello Kitty on the top. WTF!! This is what she wanted, I suppose. *shrug*
TOTAL COST: $238
And guess where the money is coming from?
BABYGIRL’S PERSONAL SAVINGS ACCOUNT!!
Now she’s mad. *scratching my head*
She said she has a savings goal of $1,000 by the end of the school year and I’m “taking advantage of her.” HA HA HA HA Teenagers are so self absorbed! LOL
I told her, sorry I’m not the government, I don’t do bailouts. You got your azz in this mess, you get your azz out. But for some reason, she didn’t find that funny. Hmm…I wonder why. I thought my timing was perfect and it was hilarious…to me! LOL!
I know…I’m such a loving, caring, and patient mom.
Sue me.
~*~*~*~*~*~Work to achieve, not to acquire.
And always, BE FABULOUS!
This blog is the story of my life...a single mom who worked her way from nothing to financial freedom. Subscribe here and follow the rest of my journey.
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This was a great lesson for her.. Does she really understand the severity of having nice teeth vs. a yuck mouth? LOL! She’ll thank you later on.. Tyler is just now losing his teeth. He keeps wiggling one. I told him that he was blessed genetically with great teeth. If he screws them up by sucking a thumb, playing with them, etc. he will be walking around looking crazy.. LOL! Now that’s a lesson for his azz/.
I’m giving you a long distance high five. The EXACT same thing happen to me. But alas I didn’t get a replacement/corrective retainer. She will definitely thank you later!
Yikes! I had to learn that VERY SAME LESSON. I refused to wear my retainers when I was supposed to and had to end up wearing a bionater(sp?). My fav color is purple to and mine was clear w/ purple hearts on the top(LOL). Now as a 27yr old woman, I am contemplating getting braces (AGAIN) b/c I didn’t even wear the bionater right and my teeth have shifted. My mom was pizzed and said I was “on my own”. It’s a very misfortunate lesson to learn..lol
You are a loving, caring and patient mom.
You are loving enough to want your daughter to grow up to be independent. You are caring enough to teach your daughter the hard lessons about life and money. You are patient enough not to kill her for causing you to take off from work unnecessarily during your busiest time of the year.
See? No suing required. LOL.
PS As one loving, caring and patient mother to another, I thought the bailout response was priceless.
DEAD @ bailout!!!! hahahaaaa
I totally understand you and her. When I had braces and then retainers for a while If I did not do what I was suppossed to do my mother had told in advance that I would have to pay for the rest of the treatment and pay for what she had already paid. That was my motivation alone. Now my teeth are perfect, get so many compliments and always say that my smile is thanks to my loving caring mother!!! But of course when I was going trough the treatment I thought my mother was mean and was just torturing me, well that is love and I understand that now.
I would have handled the situation the same. exact. way.
I’m a single mom of three, ages 12, 9 and 3, all of which have jacked up teeth. I’m now in the process of getting braces for the 12 year old. I told her if she doesn’t comply with her treatment, she’ll have buck teeth until she can pay for everything herself.
ROFLMAO in Charlotte! I loved bailout remark!!!
I almost stood up to cheer when I read that she is paying for this herself. Go head, Single Ma! You are 100% correct. A hard head makes soft wallet.
wow you are right on with how you handled her IMO. my mother would have done what you did AND yelled at me AND grounded me (no hanging out w/friends/no phone/no tv, etc) for not listening to her. so i say BG got off easy!!
i love how she is mad at you for “taking advantage of her” kids crack me up!
p.s. are you going to write a post about the bailout? i’m dying to hear your take on it!
kudos for taking the time and energy to teach your daughter a lesson she won’t forget and will eventually come to appreciate.
All I have to say is “AMEN”. You were exactly right!
Nice job parenting!
How else will she learn the value of money if you don’t teach her?
Hard lesson indeed….that’ll learn her! lol
All I can say is you go girl!! I love the way you handled this situation! I bet she will wear that retainer now. I love it! I have 3 daughters one in college we missed the braces but 2 more that may require braces.
Thanks for the laugh
K
*LMAOROTF* I had tears coming out of my eyes! Single Ma, you are TOO funny! I love it!
BG will thank you in a few years. That’s what happen when you don’t listen to Mom!
From one mom to another, a high five, hip bump, and a *snap snap*!
I wore braces @ 13 and I don’t even think I wore my retainer a month. Threw it way in a napkin. Mom couldn’t tell because my bite problems were on the sides, plus the dentist said I only needed to wear it for 6 weeks (which was the norm back then but they tell you to wear it pretty much forever now)
Fast forward to now, and I’m 29, I’m growing a gap right between my two fronts, plus my original crossbite. So I need braces, (cuz I’m vain) again. My mom is 52 and is wearing them again (she wore them in her 30’s) she’s vain, too. It’s not just your smile, but you teeth affect your whole facial profile. My mom was spitting on people unintentionally and I’m starting to lisp.
Tell baby girl to follow instructions now or she’ll be footing the entire bill for fixing her teeth as an adult….and adult orthodontics are more expensive! Retainers are key, because the teeth will space out as you get older anyway.
I’m sure she’s pissed, but what teenage girl isn’t? You taught her a really important lesson - and that’s more likely to stick with her over the years (along with good teeth!)
“taking advantage of her”?
Kids are funny.
ROFL!!! I LOVE the way you handled this. I bet she won’t be ‘forgetting’ anymore now that her bottom line is affected, ha!
Damn, mommy! How did you get the money out of HER account? was she present? did she tell everyone at the bank who would listen that mommy is rubbing her?
Mine did, and that was for HER damn laptop that SHE wanted
I wasn’t gonna put up a penny for that, but in the end I forked half of the cost of this machine that is now taking over my child, my living room space and everything in between
When I got my braces off when I was 14 (I had had them for 3 years) - I wore my retainer ALL THE TIME.
I am now almost 23 and… I STILL WEAR IT EVERY NIGHT! (My dentist/orthodonist rarely believed me… but since my teeth never shifted, they knew I wasn’t lying!)
I had a very close friend who had to get braces again due to the fact that she never wore her retainer. Trust me when I say I am glad I listened to my Mom - especially since I got to talk to that friend before my braces came off.
Sorry she had to learn a hard lesson! But good for you with putting your foot down by having her pay. She’ll remember this lesson forever!!!!!!!
Hi SM - I had braces twice, plus periodontal surgery. After the second round, my orthdontist bonded a retainer behind my two front teeth, and I wore that until the adhesive wore out. Not fun.
My 11 yr old princess will be getting braces in January. Can’t wait …
It sucks when teenagers have to learn a lesson. LOL.
Looks like another situation you handled very well.
I can just imagine her face when you told her she would be paying for it!!!
SM, very well done! She may not think it now, but she’s gonna thaaaannnnkkkk you later. I have three years of braceface and 2 years of nightgear/retainer combo experiences to back me up on this one.
If BabyGirl reads these comments she’s probably gonna think we’re all unfair people–but honestly, that is exactly what happens in real life when we don’t take responsibilities seriously. Don’t do something we are supposed to do = time and money WASTED. We end up paying for our mistakes! Just because I have a savings goal of $X this year, doesn’t mean everything that happens to derail it is something to pout about. The real test of our character and persistance is in meeting our goals DESPITE what life (and our own callousness, as in this example) throws at us. I challenge BG to meet her $1K savings goal anyway!
That’s pretty much what I would do too. I am convinced it makes you a great mom. My own daughter got braces a week ago. She was told by me if she doesn’t follow instructions (and that includes her dietary instructions ie. no sticky stuff ect..) then she’s paying me back the portion I paid (dad pays half). I’m pretty sure her dad feels the same way too. I also told her when it was time for her retainer she’s on her own if she doesn’t wear it not only is she paying me back but she’ll have to decide how to fix her teeth again and pay for that too. I guess that makes me a big ole’ meanie head too.
Baby Girl had to learn her lesson, sorry baby girl:-(
I did the same thing with my retainer and teeth. Luckily my mouth didn’t shift as much and I was able to use my original retainer to get everything back (with much pain) in a week or so. I have since stopped wearing the retainer and do notice a slight shift in the front teeth… Nothing that looks bad though (and the retainer still fits, although tightly)
I think that making her pay for the new one is a good idea. My parents never did things like this and I didn’t have any appreciation for the value of money until after college.
You did the right thing here. She needs to know that things cost money and that time is precious. Mistakes are to be had, but they still cost to fix. Whether it’s time or money.
GJ for standing your ground and making her foot the bill.
I too loved the bailout comment.