Recently my four year old went through a charming phase where he didn’t enjoy brushing his teeth. If he were further up in the birth order, I likely would have done clever things to make the dreaded activity fun and engaging. Colorful timers or perhaps a Pinterest inspired sticker chart.
But alas, he is the youngest of four and every morning is a tilt-a-whirl of knotted
hair, unmatched socks and lost homework. Teeth cleansing gimmicks aren’t even on the radar.
My daily toothbrush check revealed one was still bone dry.
“Get up here and brush your teeth,” I bellowed, knowing full well the offender was quietly hiding.
The four year old’s voice wafted up the stairs from under the dining room table.
“I’ll brush my teeth if you give me money,” he replied.
While I admired his entrepreneurial spirit, I am far too seasoned a mom to start doling out cash for daily hygiene.
“Sorry bud,” I replied. “How about a kiss?” I countered.
“Nope!” he yelled back.
The preteen in the bathroom snorted, obviously enjoying my rejection.
I ignored the adolescent’s amusement and focused on taking deep cleansing breaths. Five minutes behind schedule and it was only moments before zen mama would turn into the raging “get your hindquarter up here NOW!” mother.
“How about 100 hugs,” I called, trying one last attempt to entice him.
“Ok!” he responded enthusiastically.
My heart melted a bit. One son who didn’t mind receiving love from his mama. I looked pointedly at the preteen with a smug expression. He rolled his eyes and continued gelling his hair.
Loud footsteps pounded up the stairs. He arrived at the top with a huge grin.
“So cute how excited he is!” I said loudly enough for a certain sibling to hear.
I opened my arms. He stood looking confused.
“Where’s my $100?” he questioned.
The warming of my internal organ stopped.
“Not dollars,” I corrected. “Hugs!”
An incredulous expression crept over his face.
“What?!” he exclaimed. “No way!”
The acoustics of the tiled powder room amplified my preteen’s hysterical laughter.
My four year old looked devastatingly let down as his hope for sudden wealth instantly disappeared. It reminded me how true to life this moment was. The excitement felt about an amazing opportunity only to arrive and find your dream has been crushed. The time we bought our perfect house and then watched the deal fall through three weeks before we were to move.
In those moments of disappointment and anger, we are left to cling to this verse.
“I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out – plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hoped for.” Jeremiah 29:11 (The Message)
The power of these words was realized two months later, as we purchased a different house, that far exceeded what we had ever hoped or dreamed. God’s future for us is truly beyond what we can imagine.
The four year old suddenly realized his immediate future involved a profitless encounter with a toothbrush and tube of paste. He made a mad dash for the steps but zen mama transformed into ninja warrior and grabbed tight. As I pried open his mouth and skillfully brushed the canines of a squirming preschooler, I could only hope that when he is 42, he will agree that my plan for his cavity free future was all worth it.
Alright mamas – I’d love to hear from you! Have any of your kiddos ever hated to brush teeth, comb hair or refused to participate in any of the daily activities needed to be a presentable and non-fragrant member of society? I’d love to hear your stories – the funnier the better. Comment below!
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I have a certain young man who has a proclivity for going au natural especially post shower…. I have spent a good 10 minutes just getting him into a pair of pull-ups for bed time.
Hahah! Love it! We have gone through the streaking stage here too!
How fun it is to read your stories. You write in such a way that I am right there with you trying to figure out how to get his teeth brushed. I can remember with Dave of going from running the shower for more than10 min. Any somehow never getting wet! or clean to taking 2 or more showers a day as a teen and running us out of hot water / 80 gal. Hot water tank! Such fun memories and experiences.
Ha! I hear there is a stage where they don’t want to shower too! Ugh!! Thanks for joining me on the journey!!
Fortunately, still at this time, my daughter likes to have her teeth brushed and her hair combed. We shall see how this changes over time. Hopefully, it does not. We have been struggling however, with naptime! This child, who used to be rocked to sleep every day, has now gone to wanting her back rubbed in bed before drifting off to sleep. OH, the struggles with this child and her sleep. Previously, we had not minded rocking her because she fell asleep in 5 minutes and we could put her in her bed and she would stay asleep….however, two weeks ago, as I slowly lowered her into her bed, her eyes popped wide open and she started screaming…..It took me a couple of days to just be able to leave the room without her latching onto my leg and holding on for dear life! Once I finally got her content in just staying in her room for “quiet time/rest time”, she started to get out of bed and go over to the window, open the blinds and get out about 25 books over a 2 hour period and just read aloud to her stuffed animals in bed. By 5 p.m., without sleeping a wink during “rest time”, she would be exhausted and cranky by 5p.m. With this….I decided to start going back in her room when she first opened the blinds and without saying a word, gently walk her back to bed and tell her it’s time for rest. After ten attempts of doing this and the child still not sleeping, I decided to finally just barricade her in the bed. I told her lye down, put my hand on her back and after 30 seconds she was out! YES! SCORE for Mama!! After 3 days of learning that “Hey, if I just sit up in bed after Mom puts me in it, she will stay and rub my back”! YEP…SCORE for Natalie….! So I have been staying in her room rubbing her back until she is asleep, just so I don’t have a cranky, exhausted child in the afternoon. I have to say….as annoying as it is at times…..I prefer it for many reasons. I try and tell myself these moments won’t last forever and eventually, she won’t want me in her room at all and I also would rather she get the sleep, than not. Some say as long as they have the down time, who cares if they don’t sleep and read books the whole time. But I like my child having her sleep! That is for sure! As long as the bed time routine is different, I am OK with that! Ha!
Hang in there! I love the dance we mamas do to try and creep slowly out of the room and then inevitably stumble on the loudest toy in the room! Never fails!!
Oh My Word! Yesterday was an “adventure” if you want to call it that. No nap for the peanut…! Exhausted by 4p.m. as normal! Hubby on 14 hour night shifts until end of October so I’m on my own! Parents on vacation and so I have their dog on top of my dog and cats and child and on top of all of that I am preggo and uncomfortable! Natalie went down to bed at 7:30…got out all of her clothes from her drawers, emptied her bin of stuffed animals, got out about 20 books and finally fell asleep at 10:30p.m. Went in with a flashlight to put everything away (at night I can be louder and she won’t wake, usually!) she was up crying at 1a.m. Asked to be rocked so I rocked her back to sleep, slowly laid her back in bed and army crawled out of her bedroom at 1:43 a.m.! When I finally fell back to sleep, my parents dog starting scratching due to her allergies and the 5th set of medication she is on obviously isn’t working (She is 14!). By 3a.m. both cats were crawling on my head and jumping onto end tables knocking things over…..I finally turned on some light classical music because I could not stand all the noise from all these pets. After that, I prayed…. a LOT! LOL and thanked God for being by my side in the midst of this nonsense of a night! Must have been the moon!!!