Thursday, June 23, 2011

What a Mother Will Do...

Zane had entered an "I don't want to brush my teeth" phase. No amount of coaxing, bribery, or threats has worked. Horrible, rank breath was the result. Zane would even occasionally smell his own breath and insist that someone "passed gas", but he still would not brush his teeth. Short of holding him down and brushing them for him, Larry and I resigned ourselves to exorbitant dental bills.

Zane is also very into The Lord of the Rings movies, particularly The Return of the King, which has elephants in it. As card-carrying geek/nerd parents, we have the extended versions of the movie. Last night, as we were watching the Mouth of Sauron yakking with Aragorn and Gandalf, inspiration struck.

"Hey Zane, see that guy's teeth?" I ask.

"Yes," Zane replies, looking intently at the TV.

"That guy doesn't brush his teeth," I continue. "See how black and yucky his teeth are? Do you want your teeth to look like that?"

My child brushed his teeth last night. And this morning.

I should feel guilty, using a scary movie guy to get Zane to brush his teeth. But this house is breathing a bit less stinky now, so I think that in this case the ends justify the means.

4 comments:

  1. the ends justify the means

    That's our motto here too. Whatever works. These days it's "what would your girlfriend think about that". ;)

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  2. My son does the same thing! He refuses to brush. GRRRR! I will have to try your tactic.

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  3. Whatever gets the job done. : )

    ~ Mona

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  4. I hate stinky breath! I think the comparison with a scary character was a great teachable moment. And like More Milestones said, "Whatever gets the job done."

    Congrats!

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