Brace yourself!

This past Sunday, I paged through the Real Estate section of the paper to see if we could find a home closer to my children’s orthodontist. Most people look for an easy commute to work or want to be near good schools. The way things have been going lately, most of our time (and money) seems to be spent in trying to keep our kids from growing up to look like hillbillies or the British royal family.

I have five kids, all of whom have big beautiful teeth and small cramped jaws and will need some form of orthodontia (Latin for “torture of the mouth”). I had no experience with orthodontists growing...