Brush Those You Want to Keep

A few weekends ago I was at the zoo with the girls and we ran into a friend of my daughter's that she went to preschool with. Proudly she announced she had this amazing treasure in her mouth- a loose tooth! We were all so intrigued. We have been reading book after book about such a phenomenon, so the girls wanted to see the tooth in motion over and over again, and Julia was more than happy to show it to us. I noticed another thing, her tiny little mouth was full of metal. (okay, I'm exaggerating, but she had at least two silver teeth). I said to her Dad, "it looks like she has had some dental work as well, why when they fall out eventually?" "Yep, that's what we always thought too, they are only baby teeth, why even get a cavity filled? But those are crowns." and he finished with "Really, we aren't so good at brushing either, but $1,000 later, she now brushes". I was shocked, but you would think I would run home and get the hard crusty brushes out, right? No. I was a little better about reminding the kids to brush, but it was never in our routine. Don't get me wrong, I would never admit that we were non brushers, until now.

But it all changed last week. I babysat for a friend who has a VERY structured bedtime routine. One that definitely can hold it's own to Stuntbec's new routine. Anyway, after reading a few stories downstairs, I said to them, okay, it's time to go upstairs and brush teeth before your final stories and songs. (yes, I sang to them, and after the first song, they did not ask for another) They looked at me and said, "what? our toothbrushes are down here!" I knew that, but I didn't. I had seen them down there for years every time I went to their house, I was taking the brushes out of my daughter's hand in time to spare them from entering her germ factory. So this evening of babysitting turned out to be a turning point for us. The simple act of moving the brushes downstairs to a different bathroom has made it all possible. Now after breakfast, they don't have to go back upstairs to brush, it's just a step away. Bedtime too, before they even go upstairs, the teeth are brushed. Amazing isn't it, how just changing something around has made life so easy.

So it's just made me think. I have a neighbor that keeps coming over saying that she has a business of organizing people's lives. And I just keep saying to myself, I have the skills, I just don't use them. But now, I'm thinking I really don't. I feel like I need someone over here to live a day in my life and say, "okay, here is where you go wrong, make a list, but don't keep loosing it, only to start a new one". Would she have been able to see the simple act of moving the brushes downstairs would change our lives and make us brushers? Who knows. All I know is the girls are now excited to brush in their new location, and I've now got the drive to teach them good dental hygiene before we have a mouth of metal too. Cheers to the Dad that was willing to admit that they weren't brushers, otherwise I might not have been scared into taking action either.