Sunday evenings in our household are a whole vibe. It’s our time to prep for the busy week ahead. Between sports, clubs, and social events our weekday calendars are filled to the brim! We meal-prep easy options for those late baseball games and extra cheer practices. We conquer mountains of laundry (seriously, where does it all come from?) and make sure all uniforms are clean and complete. We wash, style, and protect curly heads of hair like pros. And of course, we update planners and calendars to keep track of all the commitments—hello, PTA meetings, baseball games, and cheer socials!
Basically, we try to tame the chaos so that our week is only marginally crazy and we are hopefully only a little late and not forgetting things altogether. So of course during the madness that is Sunday prep there will inevitably be bumps in the road.
The Braces Saga Begins
This past Sunday, it was Princess E who decided to spice things up. Right in the middle of her evening routine—post-bath, pre-bed—she somehow managed to pop the rubber band chain from her braces. Four links of the chain were rebelliously hanging off her metal brackets, causing quite the orthodontic fashion statement.
Being the DIYers that we are, I sterilized some tweezers and tried to MacGyver the situation. Spoiler: it didn’t work. Have you ever tried to reattach orthodontist rubber bands? Those things are tiny—like, microscopic. It’s like performing dental surgery with chopsticks.
I promised her we’d call the ortho first thing in the morning, but of course, this led to a sleepless fit of anxiety full of “what ifs.” What if the repair hurt? Would the orthodontist team give her a stern talking-to? Cue the stress.
Incentives to the Rescue
We tried distraction tactics—funny stories, deep breathing, the whole mom toolkit. No dice. So we moved on to incentives. Could we schedule the appointment around her art club? Sure. Could we get a treat afterward? Definitely. Could we have ice cream in bed while reading? Hold up—ice cream in bed?
This is where I hesitated. We have a strict no-food-upstairs policy, but… well, she’s really scared, right? And maybe, just maybe, looking forward to something special could calm the nerves.
So yeah, I caved and last night I kept my bargain. We had ice cream in bed and continued reading I Am Malala, which we started last week (by the way Princess E is hooked—she looks forward to the next chapter every night). Look for her book review soon!
Ice Cream Dreams & Fixed Braces
And that, my friends, is how we kicked off the week—with ice cream, books, and a newly repaired set of mouth hardware. Who needs a predictable Sunday evening when you can have ice cream dreams instead?
Key Takeaways:
- Kids’ orthodontic emergencies are a whole thing.
- Incentives are key. (And ice cream is magic.)
- Sometimes rules are meant to be bent… for a good cause. 😉
