Bravery

Over the last week, I have become more and more convinced that parenting takes more bravery than most other jobs.  I know there are those of you reading this that would disagree but it has really been on my heart and mind because I have needed more bravery than ever.  Jamahl is getting a pallet expander in the roof of his mouth and braces on his upper teeth.  I KNOW that many of you have been through this with your kids and all of them (and you) have survived but for some reason, this has been nothing but trauma for me.  Last week, when I took him to get his impressions and separators in, I literally had to force myself to go get him from school and take him. I HATE the dentist or anything to do with teeth and I have been so worried about starting this process due to the fear I have that Jamahl would get downright angry with us as the process went along or my worry that he was not emotionally ready for all that braces entails.  I called a friend last week and asked her what in the world was wrong with me?  I have been through MANY surgeries with three of the kids, broken bones with some of them, and I can talk about the mortality of my children. So why in the world do I feel so paralyzed about the orthodontist?  After talking through it all with my dear friend, I took several deep breaths, went and picked him up, and away we went.  We had prepared him as best we could without scaring him and my biggest concern was that I did not want to project my fear onto him! Well, we walked out of there an hour later and he never had a SINGLE problem.  As a matter of fact, in the threshold of the orthodontist office, he said that he was sort of excited about getting his braces on.  My conclusion is that when you are 10, it is still cool and acceptable to be the “first” one to do anything.  No one else in Jamahl’s class has braces and he is looking forward to showing everyone and explaining the ins and outs of orthodontia!  How cool is that?  Now, if he were 12…I am pretty sure it would be a totally different story.

So, on this eve before braces, we celebrated by having walking tacos for dinner since he can’t eat corn chips with his braces on.  We have re-read a lot of the information and looked through his bag of tools and tricks that he received last week.  He is calm and collected, occasionally asking a few questions that pop into his mind.  Me… my nerves are ramping up as the night wears on.  This is a tough one for me and while I may not ever really get the whys of my emotions, I am am certain of one thing.  Parenting my take a lot of bravery but it is nothing compared to my brave ten year old son who  is embarking on a new phase of life with his head held high and a lack of worry that I am SO proud of.