Braces imminent, and Kairos meme: comic strips

[hamsterwoman]

It just hit me the other day that O is getting his braces put on THIS WEEK. We've stocked up on apple sauce and Odwalla juices and yogurt, and will buy ice cream and chocolate pudding as needed. Any last minute suggestions/words of warning? (I never wore braces myself, because i refused, and l had Invisalign, which come off for eating and so don't

Comments

[hamsterwoman]

Braces aren't nearly so disruptive as they used to be, I think?

That's good to hear! My friend M's daughter, who is a little older than O, just got her braces put on over the summer, and she seems OK now, though the first couple of days/week(s) were quite rough. But I don't know how her diet has had to change or not.

The thing I'm most concerned about is veggies. Is it possible to eat them raw (not in the first week, in general), or does that require getting them basically shredded?

I had a timely discovery of it right when I was starting to consider grad school, and the slow creeping realization that it's describing my life both amuses and terrifies me.

Ha, I can see how it would!

but Foxtrot always felt slightly funnier as a kid, whereas C&H I came to appreciate more with age.

Ah, that's a really nice distinction, actually. I was already a teenager when I discovered both, but I will say that while in Foxtrot, I continue to sort of, well, not identify with, but read it from the perspective of the rather Jason-like kid I was, C&H definitely picks up nuances when revisiting it as an adult. So, yes, I see your point and agree with it.

And, agreed on xkcd. I also think it wouldn't have the same punch if the art was more "complex".

[giallarhorn]

I think it does definitely vary from person to person in how sore/sensitive you are, but I was pretty much back to normal after the first day? One of my labmates just got braces as well, and she seems to feel fine now.

Diet wise, they'll give you a list but you can more or less figure out what isn't worth the effort to eat- sticky or hard food is on there a lot, but it also depends on what's likely to get stuck. Chips are more trouble than they're worth, as is candy and stuff with lots of bones in it. Raw veggies should be fine, but you have to approach it with braces in mind? Like consider an carrot- I wouldn't recommend eating a carrot straight with braces, but cutting it up makes it fair game.

tl;dr- you can mostly eat the same things if O isn't too sore, but that shouldn't last long. Other than that, it's about how you approach the food/portion it.

Yeah, Foxtrot still has a lot of the same Jason humor for me that I had as a kid as well, and still gets very similar reactions if I reread it. C&H I thought was weird and sometimes funny as a kid, but reading all of C&H now left me with a very different impression (and also feeling sorry for his parents).

[hamsterwoman]

As of day 3 of braces, O seems generally OK, but can't eat anything more solid than well-boiled vegetables. Hopefully he's going feel up to more soon, because it's hard keeping a teenage boy fed on soups and porridges!

Thank you for all the advice!

(and also feeling sorry for his parents).

Haha, same! Also his teachers and the babysitter. :P