Haha, your granola bar story made me smile because my daughter went through almost the exact same thing. She spent the first week after her braces refusing to eat anything harder than yogurt and applesauce. I remember watching her cautiously nibble on a cracker like it was rigged to explode. It was kinda funny, but I totally got it.
The good news is, it really does get better pretty quickly. After a couple weeks, she was back to eating most of her favorite snacks without even realizing it. Sure, popcorn was still off-limits for a while (and honestly, I still cringe a bit when she eats caramel apples at the fair), but overall things settled down way faster than we expected.
You're doing great—just give yourself some time and patience. Pretty soon you'll notice you're not even thinking about it anymore. Hang in there!
Your daughter's cracker incident made me chuckle because it brought back some vivid memories of my own brace-face days. I distinctly remember the first week after getting braces—I was convinced that even a gentle breeze could snap a wire or pop a bracket off. My mom still teases me about the time I tried eating pizza with a knife and fork, carefully slicing each piece into microscopic bites as if I was performing surgery. Embarrassing, but true.
You're right though, things really do improve faster than expected. Within a couple of weeks, I found myself munching on sandwiches and chips without even realizing I'd moved past the paranoia stage. But yeah, popcorn was tricky for longer than I'd hoped. I once snuck some during a movie night and spent the entire next day anxiously checking my brackets in the mirror, convinced I'd done irreparable damage (I hadn't, thankfully).
One small tip that helped me was keeping orthodontic wax handy—especially at school or work. If something felt off or uncomfortable, popping some wax on it eased my mind and got me through the day without obsessively poking around my mouth. Also, rinsing with warm salt water helps a ton if your gums ever feel irritated or sore.
Overall, you're doing exactly what you should be doing—taking things slow and being cautious. It's totally normal to feel like you're relearning how to eat at first. Give yourself permission to be a bit awkward; we've all been there at some point. Before you know it, you'll be back to eating granola bars without a second thought... though maybe keep an eye out for those caramel apples at the fair. They're still my nemesis, too.
