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A Day in the Life: My daughter would never do that
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Anonymous user Tue Nov 30, 1999 00:00:00 PST
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0 responses 0 comments One of my friends recently complained about the way their son continually lost retainers.
I think this must be something we, parents, have in common — how to help your son or daughter keep track of this dental appliance.
I mean, after all, the problems associated with braces, not to mention the money, the retainer is a necessary piece of equipment. This all brought me back to the spring of 1997.
Our daughter, Aly, was a seventh grader at the junior high where I taught. When she went off to classes that first day with her retainer, I reminded her “Don’t lose that retainer.” After all, I’d heard the complaint enough from colleagues and parents of students. I used to laugh and state that my daughter would never lose something as important as a retainer.
That night as our family sat down to eat, Aly realized that she wasn’t wearing her retainer.
I couldn’t believe it.
I used to laugh about people searching theaters, cars, classrooms, and parks to find a lost retainer. Suddenly, I realized I’d joined the ranks — I couldn’t bear the thought of paying for another retainer.
When Aly remembered she’d put the retainer into her lunch sack, which was thrown away upon exiting the cafeteria, we headed to school. We were lucky because the trash hadn’t been picked up.
Since it was dusk, we had taken flashlights so we could see better, and into the dumpster we went. We began digging through sacks, old dittos, and assorted trash, hopeful of finding the retainer. At about the same time, we noticed a gooey layer about a foot under the regular trash. We weren’t wearing gloves, so when I reached down, I came up with a handful of slimy goo.
“Squids!” I shouted, suddenly remembering the science teachers discussing the lab for the day. We were out of that dumpster so quickly and stinking like a fish market, we headed for home and a clean change of clothes.
Today, we laugh about that first lost retainer. I say “first” because it was one of three.
Like it or not, that very valuable piece of equipment was easily misplaced by our busy teen. My advice to young parents is to start a separate savings account, just for those emergencies, and above all, never say never.

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