Category Archives: parenting

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braces…

My daughter got braces on Thursday. She is only 8 years old, which is younger than usual for braces, so she didn’t have a lot of friends to compare experiences with, just older kids at school. I had expected it to go pretty well, with a few days of mild soreness like the orthodontist had warned me about. Not our experience.

A few short hours after getting them on, several of them had popped off, and we had to go back again, and pretty much start over. They think it was a bad batch of adhesive, but it was painful for her, and tough for me to watch her hurting. I have found as a parent, I would ten times over rather have pain for myself than for my kids, but of course, we don’t get that choice. My heart goes out to parents of kids who have really tough medical stuff-I don’t know how they do it. I was a wreck over braces.

She has had quite a bit of trouble eating, and is just now saying they don’t hurt all the time. She will have them for 1.5-2 years, then again a few years later- “two stage orthodontics” they call it. Anyway, being me, you know I have to share a couple photos. I think they make her look even older-not what she needed at all! She is growing up too fast as it is, in my opinion. :)

And of course, one of my three favorite kids in the world, all together.

A brilliant group you should check out…

Just wanted to post quickly about Parents for Ethical Marketing (PEM-click here for link) for my blog readers who may have never heard of it. Here is a snip from their website to explain their focus much better than I could:

Why Parents for Ethical Marketing?

Consumer marketing is everywhere. On television. In magazines and newspapers. On the Internet and on school buses. On billboards and on bus shelters. On milk cartons and cereal boxes.

In our public schools.

And it’s almost impossible to buy anything for a child without a “brand identity.” Barbie, for example, can be found on everything from band-aids to board games to backpacks.

As parents, we know there’s a problem. We argue with our kids about what to buy, what to wear, what to watch and what to play. We know what is best for our kids, yet sometimes we give in when we know we shouldn’t.

Of course, parents are ultimately responsible for raising healthy children. But corporate marketers would have us believe that combating their damaging commercial messages is exclusively our problem

Parents for Ethical Marketing thinks it’s about time that corporations take some of the responsibility.

Through parental awareness, public pressure, and legislative initiatives, Parents for Ethical Marketing encourages corporations to adopt responsible marketing standards and practices that sustain the health of children and families.

If this is a topic that is interesting and important to you, as it is to me, you can join PEM’s mailing list for updates and action information. Thanks for reading!

Mary