Oops, She Does it Again

What am I going to do with Miriya? She has had her braces off for exactly one year. During that year she has lost her retainers twice. The first time was a freebie but the second time she had to work off the money to pay me back by doing chores around the house. Did she learn her lesson from all the housecleaning and babysitting? Evidently not because she lost her retainers again. I am thoroughly disgusted. We are about even with the cost of retainers to the cost of her entire orthodontic treatment. I discussed permanent retainers with the orthodontist but Miriya is at the point where she only needs to wear her retainers at night so permanent ones won't do the trick.

She just came home with her 3rd set. I wish I had taken pictures of all of the retainers. The kids get to choose what colors they want their retainers made out of when they order them. Her first set was black with silver glitter. The second set was blue and pink tie dye. This set is orange and pink tie dye. It is much brighter in hopes that she doesn't misplace them. Plus, I am tired of her "working" off the debt by doing chores around the house. She has a small job with a bakery on Saturday mornings. I have introduced her to the world of wage garnishment. She has effectively taken out a loan against the bank of Mom and Dad and repays with part of her paycheck every week. She will be repaying this time with interest, and from money she earned from someone other than her parents. We went over how much she will pay in total loan costs if she only makes the minimum payment. It was kind of an eye opener for her. I hope this teaches her about taking out loans and using credit wisely as well as helps prevent future loss of retainers.

The first picture is of the retainers actually in Miriya's mouth. We had to document that they were in her mouth at one time. Tom and I have bets on how long this pair will last...