Tobey: Brushing teeth

I think I can safely say that getting Tobey to brush his teeth is our least favorite time of the day (with getting him to get dressed being a close 2nd). It's not just the dawdling, it's also the whining and complaining as soon as you say "time to brush your teeth" or the screaming if you have to brush them for him. We have tried various things to get through this time of day: incentives (you get to read another story), threats (no more stories), brute force brushing. Our most recent tactic was my mom's suggestion which was to move brushing teeth time up to right after dinner so that it isn't associated with the finality of the end of the day, but more so just a task to do before he gets to go play, then maybe he wouldn't dread it so much. It seemed to help a little but sometimes it doesn't help (like if we go out to eat and come home right before bedtime anyway).

We thought it was just a phase until 1) it seems to have gone on for every night without fail for months now and 2) when Tom babysat for Mark & Cindy, Zachary just held his mouth wide open for Tom to brush his teeth. Tom was so shocked, he almost didn't know what to do with himself.

Tonight at the spur of the moment, I decided to try a tactic with Tobey that Tanisha shared at MTO: pretending to go to the dentist. Not that Tobey has ever been to one nor has he seen either of us go to one. But after reading The Tooth Book where the last page showed a kid going to the dentist, I thought, why not, we can't lose at this point.

The tactic worked like a charm. I said we'd take turns being dentist and I would be the dentist first. He had his mouth wide open immediately which surprised me so much that I rushed to get toothpaste on his toothbrush so I could start brushing while it was still open. We did go through all the formalities like Dr. Mommy asking if he had any problems with his teeth. He even asked me if we (dentist) had a bathroom, which is funny because we're already in the bathroom, and he actually went pee in real life. I even gave him a "prize" of one of his shark bath toys, the one that shows all of his sharp teeth. And of course, I let him brush my teeth during which he asked me if I had any cavities and went on to be a very gentle dentist. I even asked if I pay the receptionist on the way out.

Not a scream, not a whine, it was actually fun for him and for me. Being a realist, I do not know how long this will last before he catches on to our ploy. But I'm sure we will gladly take however long or short that it does last.