Oh Hell

So Travis the turtle is a very bad influence on Olivia. We’ve established that and I’m trying to curb Travis’s naughtiness in an effort to model good behavior for Olivia.

I can’t say it’s working extremely well but we can’t break bad habits in a single day so…the work goes on.

At that orthodontist appointment that we thought I had wrong but that I’d actually had right, they decided it was time for Olivia to wear rubber bands.

Guess what that means?

Yes, it means I get to stick my fingers in her mouth every single day for the next six weeks. Yay!!

And poor Alyssa has to do it when I’m not there because Tom insists that his fingers are too fat and he can’t see well enough. Sigh.

I wore rubber bands back when I had braces. Alyssa wore them too. We know what we’re doing and it’s fine. But you know what? I wish Olivia had the confidence to at least TRY to put them in herself. Alas…she’s very sure that she’s simply not capable. And she would rather DIE than stick her own fingers in her mouth. Which is…weird and annoying but, well, it’s also life around here.

So whatever.

But the best part of that entire day (other than finding out I was right when I’d thought I was wrong) was when Olivia announced at the end of the evening that the first thing she thought when she heard the orthodontic tech say it was time for O to start wearing rubber bands was: “Oh, hell.”

She said it so mildly and it was so appropriate to the situation that I couldn’t help but laugh.

Alyssa rolled her eyes at my laughter because, well, when she was 14 she’d never had uttered such a word in my presence. So that’s another case of first born and last born behavior that fits all the stereotypes.