If You're Happy and You Know It, Show Your Teeth

No lipstick on her teeth. 

Figgy got her braces off today! It was a big day; she couldn't wait.

She's a high school sophomore now, and started going to the orthodontist in seventh grade. Her teeth look beautiful. I had to get used to seeing her without the heavy metal; she looks different. Not that she wasn't beautiful before. She's just a different kind of beautiful.

The ceremony at Dr. Gold's office on Lorraine Avenue was very sweet. Figgy had popped out of the chair in the private office when I arrived [it was a 2-hour appointment and she went to school after lunch] but Dr. Gold said No, you can't leave yet. While we waited, I noticed what looked like an ice cream flavor list on the tray near the chair--mocha, chocolate mint, an impressive selection. I thought maybe they were ordering a sundae with sticky toffee to help her celebrate. Turns out they were flavors for the cement, so they could fit her for a retainer. Amazing. [Kids today don't know how lucky they are--pharmacists can doctor meds to taste like bubblegum or grape, and the orthdontist can offer an array of cement flavors. My dentist chair time as a kid was a nightmare!]

Dr. Gold had Fig come over into the open office, with four reclining patient chairs. [On schoolday afternoons, all seats are taken by young people in jeans, their iPods temporarily unplugged.] Martha, the lovely lady who runs the office, stepped out from behind the front desk to join him.

Everyone, I have an announcement to make, Dr. Gold said. Figgy got her braces off today. The women working chairside put down their tools. He presented her with a special Orthodontic Diploma "for a lifetime of happy smiles," her first photo sans metal [snapped at the office] and a flat packet of Orville Redenbacher's SmartPop! microwave popcorn, because now, of course, Figgy has popcorn chomping freedom.

Looking poised, pleased and pretty, Figgy stood there in her floral skirt, black tights and suede boots while everyone sang "If You're Happy and You Know It, Show Your Teeth." Then we all applauded.  It was a happy moment. It also brought back memories of the times I brought Fig to appts there in that open room with Punch in tow, enchanting everyone from her baby carrier seat--and of the afternoon I took Figgy in a storm and the power went off midway through but came back on again.

Another rite of passage--happy I was there. Then we went to lunch at Raymond's on Church Street in Montclair and had a lovely meal together. [Figgy had awesome macaroni & cheese made with Grafton Cheddar. She shared a few spoonfuls. Yum.]

Tonight, Figgy opened her mouth wide and bit into a big green Granny Smith apple, with joy. She loves apples. Wish I did too, but my taste runs more to that imagined ice cream sundae with sticky toffee. Apples are too virtuous, unless sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and baked in golden butter pastry--or perhaps dunked in caramel and covered with candy. But I guess you might say that's turning a pure apple into a poison apple.

Sigh. Good night. Sweet dreams.

Photo, I think from Fashion's Night Out, by Figgy. She downloaded a number of photos I can select from--the folder on her Mac desktop is called mom's blog.