Braces

Yesterday Mark got braces!  Apparently Emma found it shocking.

He looks cute (but he doesn't think so).

Braces are like vaccinations.  I approach both with an equal mix of gratitude and dread.

Braces are expensive and I sat for two hours in the waiting room while he was being tortured getting his teeth decorated.  He's in pain.  He can't eat (and for a 13 year old boy, that is pretty much the end of the world).

This is motherhood.  You pay the money, grateful you can.  You wait patiently.  You bring a book.  You buy pudding and applesauce.  You assure the boy someday it will be worth it.

It's just a microcosm of the bigger picture of motherhood.  You know things are going to be difficult for your children.  You dread any sort of heartache, big or small.  You wish you could take away the pain but at the same time you're sort of grateful they're having hard times because you know it will make them better.   You wait.  You try to help and reassure.  You know it will be worth it in the end.

(Sitting for two hours in the orthodontist waiting room gave me some time to think.)