by Meg Porter
6/16/2011

Thus began my journey to the dumpsters behind the Robert Adams Middle School. I first went to the office to let them know about the situation. I had to get permission from the principal to go dumpster diving. Then on to the nurse's office to get a pair of protective gloves. The kind nurse then escorted me to the cafeteria where she let the staff know why I was there. "We've had many mothers in our dumpsters." I was encouraged.

(Shown above) is an image of what I was looking for. It is clear plastic with a replacement value of $150.00. The nurse said "You'll never find it.  This is a waste of time." I was about to agree with her.  Charlotte had lunch during the first phase of lunches and all the trash had been thrown away. Was I crazy?

The good news was that it was the beginning of the week and there were only three bags of trash in the dumpster. Charlotte had told the cafeteria staff that she had wrapped her retainer in aluminum foil. I had something to go on. I actually found the remains of her lunch in the very first bag. The cherries I had paid a fortune for were untouched in the zip lock bag.

Not only were her cherries there and untouched, but I found dozen or so uneaten apples, ten or more unopened yogurts, whole hamburgers, several plastic recyclable bottles full of water along with cans, styrofoam containers and the remains of all the hard work and thought that parents put into packing healthy lunches. For awhile I was distracted from my mission by the waste and lack of recycling efforts. There has got to be something we can do to reduce this waste. Heck, our chickens will eat all of the uneaten fruit.

Anyway, back to the search and rescue. I went through all the bags and foil wraps, but no retainer. Then I started looking differently, I just looked for the retainer and found it in the first bag. I was psyched and angry at the same time. What was going to be the consequence for Charlotte's mistake? (Shown below, Charlotte with braces)

The woman from the cafeteria who had been so helpful and encouraging came up with the perfect solution. "Have her spend two hours cleaning your house." What a brilliant solution.

At the end of school, I picked up both of our daughters. Charlotte asked if I was still mad at her. I put on a pretty good angry act trying to hide the satisfaction I felt from finding her retainer.  When I pulled the retainer out of my pocket, she couldn't believe her eyes. "How did you find it Mom? You're amazing." When I told her the story of my efforts and what her consequence was, she agreed immediately. She was truly grateful and happy to clean the house.

Thank you to everyone who helped me with my quest and for not judging me for dumpster diving. I hope this story helps other families who face this grim situation. Charlotte now brings her retainer container to school and has learned an important lesson.

She looks pretty good without the braces.