Hey Mum, My front teeth can finally touch together!

It's a proud moment when your child says - "look, mum, my front teeth can finally touch together." You just don’t expect to hear them say it when they are 14 years old.

There are things as children grow, that we sometimes take for granted will just happen. Things like learning to walk and talk, teething problems at the age of 1 and then teeth growing and touching so they can chew food.

We always knew our daughter had a large tongue, because when she was born her tongue was sticking out, which we thought was so adorable. As she began to speak,  I was sad that she didn't say the word "mum" for years, but she was very cute as she always seemed to have her tongue protruding out of her mouth, which meant that words with the letters "m", "p" “v” and "b” in them, didn’t come out quite right. In fact the gap was so large she could put her thumb through the gap sideways.

She would say “let’s watch a Bideo”, which was so adorable. And because she was always so talkative and full of life, we thought she would simply grow out of it.

By about 3 years of age we wondered why Georgia still refused to eat meat, until we worked out it was because she couldn't bite down and actually chew it.

It was then that we started the speech lessons, dentist appointments, there were talks of major surgery, or braces etc. She was such a trouper, facing each challenge with determination and courage, often astounding doctors and therapists with how well she accomplished what she was asked to do.

I still remember the day she got her first mouth brace with a steel gate to keep her tongue back. At first she couldn't talk and had trouble breathing when it was in her mouth. Initially, she stopped smiling, for she was embarrassed and very self conscious. It broke my heart to see her struggle and I was afraid that she would potentially shut down. But it didn't last long. As they say; you just can't keep a good kid down.

So last year, on the 21st November, 2014 at 14 years of age, when Georgia said "mum my front teeth just touched" it was a momentous moment for us all. It was the first time in her whole life that she was finally able to feel her front teeth touch together.

I say all this to point out that, other than being proud of my amazing daughter, there would be very few people who know anything about this burden that she has quietly carried for her entire life.

It is something that could have stopped her, shut her down, squashed her spirit, but it never has. My daughter is known by many to talk, sing, speak and use her voice in many crazy ways that continue to make the world around her laugh, cry and be inspired.

It is always a choice, isn't it? What we do with the things that we carry. They can define us either way, and they either deflate us or make us stronger. We all have something that challenges us, something we have to live with daily. Each day we must decide; are we going to let it hold us back or will it make us more determined to thrive anyway?

My daughter amazes me every day. She is a big inspiration in my life. I know that mouth of hers has only just begun to change the world around her. Watch out world, here she comes!