Teeth Brushing/Shower solution!
Tina Tarbutton
Draven (age 10) has never enjoyed brushing his teeth. We've tried
bringing the tooth brush to him, brushing with him, sticker charts
(when he was much younger and before I was unschooling) pretty much
everything. Once I started radically unschooling I let the issue go.
I've said in a previous post that every few days I ask him to take a
shower, especially if we're going someplace (church, dinner, etc.).
We don't make a big deal out of it, and typically as long as we give
him his "24 hour notice" he takes a shower and brushes his teeth when
he's done. So at least his teeth were getting brushed every few days.
However, we've moved in with my mother, and while she doesn't directly
question our parenting practices, she has made comments about his
hygiene, normally in joking ways (holy moly kidlet, those socks could
get up and walk by themselves, why don't you walk them over to the
washing machine and I'll clean them). He doesn't mind (I've asked),
and she doesn't push when he says no, so I haven't told her to stop.
The teeth brushing thing really bothered her though, because she's
pretty big on dental care.
So, she bought us a sonic tooth brush, with enough heads for each of
us to have our own. It was a pretty big investment (Almost $100 for
the base and a 3 pack of heads), but it's been a week and every single
morning he's brushed his teeth without us even mentioning it.
Afterwards he loves to travel the house showing everyone his shiny
smooth teeth. Wish I would have found the money for it ages ago, I
love it too (although it is a little strange the first few times).
We've tried spin brushes in the past and we didn't get nearly the
amount of tooth brushing we've gotten with this. He loves it because
he can type on the computer 1 handed while just holding it in the
different areas of his mouth and letting the brush do the work for
him. It also shuts off after 2 minutes so he knows he's done.
Another thing that made a difference for showers is that we bought him
an axe scrubber tool (I think that's what it's called), which my
partner also has, and we got him head to toe body wash so he can use
the same product and get his whole body clean. Now showers happen
without much discussion.
Tina
bringing the tooth brush to him, brushing with him, sticker charts
(when he was much younger and before I was unschooling) pretty much
everything. Once I started radically unschooling I let the issue go.
I've said in a previous post that every few days I ask him to take a
shower, especially if we're going someplace (church, dinner, etc.).
We don't make a big deal out of it, and typically as long as we give
him his "24 hour notice" he takes a shower and brushes his teeth when
he's done. So at least his teeth were getting brushed every few days.
However, we've moved in with my mother, and while she doesn't directly
question our parenting practices, she has made comments about his
hygiene, normally in joking ways (holy moly kidlet, those socks could
get up and walk by themselves, why don't you walk them over to the
washing machine and I'll clean them). He doesn't mind (I've asked),
and she doesn't push when he says no, so I haven't told her to stop.
The teeth brushing thing really bothered her though, because she's
pretty big on dental care.
So, she bought us a sonic tooth brush, with enough heads for each of
us to have our own. It was a pretty big investment (Almost $100 for
the base and a 3 pack of heads), but it's been a week and every single
morning he's brushed his teeth without us even mentioning it.
Afterwards he loves to travel the house showing everyone his shiny
smooth teeth. Wish I would have found the money for it ages ago, I
love it too (although it is a little strange the first few times).
We've tried spin brushes in the past and we didn't get nearly the
amount of tooth brushing we've gotten with this. He loves it because
he can type on the computer 1 handed while just holding it in the
different areas of his mouth and letting the brush do the work for
him. It also shuts off after 2 minutes so he knows he's done.
Another thing that made a difference for showers is that we bought him
an axe scrubber tool (I think that's what it's called), which my
partner also has, and we got him head to toe body wash so he can use
the same product and get his whole body clean. Now showers happen
without much discussion.
Tina
lalow
>My 8 year old doesnt like his hair brushed or combed. He goes along time without cutting it and occasionally we brush it when something is coming up. Mostly, I put lots of conditioner in it when we wash it. My mom cant leave him alone about it though and for the most part I think her comments bug me more than him. She says them joking. The other day he got an email from my mom, she sends them with interesting pictures or articles for him and he wrote her back to say thanks and wanted to attach a picture. He likes pictures of cats so he googled funny cat pics and found one with its hair sticking straight out all crazy. He attached it and typed to my mom, "this is my hair NOW". I just thought it was great how he has such a great sence of humor about it.
> However, we've moved in with my mother, and while she doesn't directly
> question our parenting practices, she has made comments about his
> hygiene, normally in joking ways (holy moly kidlet, those socks could
> get up and walk by themselves, why don't you walk them over to the
> washing machine and I'll clean them). He doesn't mind (I've asked),
> and she doesn't push when he says no, so I haven't told her to stop.
> The teeth brushing thing really bothered her though, because she's
> pretty big on dental care.