Sunday night I gave Natalie a new toothbrush that better fit her tiny mouth. I always brush her teeth first and then let her have a turn at trying it herself. We use baby toothpaste that is safe to swallow. The grape flavored toothpaste must taste delicious because after Nat brushed her teeth she signed for more. I am trying to encourage verbal word use, so I asked her to say "Please" a word she had never said before. She said it so cutely and must have seen on my face how adorable I thought she was. After 10 seconds of brushing she held out her toothbrush and said "Pwease, Pwease". How could I resist that cute entreaty? So more toothpaste was put on the brush...10 seconds later "Pwease, Pwease". I knew I was already trapped into a cycle that was surely going to end in a tantrum, but wanting to encourage excitement and joy towards dental care I let her brush her teeth a few more times. Sure enough when we told the toothpaste bye-bye for the night Natalie had a small fit. The next morning I cut the whole routine short and only allowed her one round of teeth brushing. A tantrum followed. I didn't have time to let her ride it out like I usually do because I had to get ready for work, so I grabbed the kitty cat dress you see below and showed it to her. She fell in instant love with it and was so happy to put it on along with her favorite ever shoes. Tooth brushing was forgotten and crisis averted. We all made it to work and school on time.
Look! I got stickers on my hands for using the potty.
Yay for my kitty cat dress!
5 comments:
Aha, the old bait and switch. An oldy but a goody. She is a shoe girl too? Elspeth absolutely loves shoes and is dying to wear her sandals but her feet will have to grow first. They are really nice shoes and a cute dress.
I love reading your blogs. I see Natalie has finally come out of her shell. She is so adorable:)
Her eyes just sparkle. Blessings
What a funny story! I could so see myself doing the same thing! She is irresistable!
Heather, yes she is a shoe girl and a clotheshorse! I never knew a 2 year old could be so obsessed with her attire. She has strong opinions about what she wears and is not shy about making those opinions very clear :)
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