The Toothbrushing Capers!

Watching 3 kids can be an interesting job at many a times. I attempt to make sure that whatever the parents want being done is done. In the same way I have my own style of doing things that's well unique to me and works for how I need to get stuff done. I am a list maker to the core. I will make lists of things that need to be done all the time. As the kids are getting older (5, 6, and 8) I want them to be able to become more independent, especially in areas of getting themselves ready in the morning. Last summer I made Summer checklists that the kids had to complete every single day in order to receive 2 stickers on their sticker chart. In all reality it was a major help and reminder to me of everything that needed to be done in the day time before we went off on our grand adventures. When you have breathing treatments, wart tape, beds being made, and teeth to be brushed it can get a little hectic around here. Anyways one of our big things that we are working towards independence on is tooth brushing....can I just say I am not a fan of this. It seems to be such a spectacle to get all 3 children's teeth brushed, flossed and rinsed in a decent amount of time without World War 18 breaking out (3-17 have already happened in this house). After teaching and prompting the kids a number of times I decided that we needed a nice chart to help aide in the process, and off I went.

When the kids are with me they brush their teeth in the downstairs bathroom. We have three toothbrushes and three toothpastes to accommodate the needs, or more like wants. We also have a bowl of flossers, two timers (one for brushing and one for rinse) and a big bottle of pink rinse. There is a little side table next to the sink and in the drawer we keep all of the above except the pink rinse which sits below. I implemented the timers about a month ago to ensure that we brushed for 2 minutes and rinsed for 1. They have worked well other then confusion on which timer to use and which button to push. I took all of this into consideration when I created our chart. (First I bought new tooth brushes and paste, brushes because it had been about 3 months and paste because for some reason more ends up on the outside of the tube then on the toothbrush, go figure)

This is what our tooth brushing space looks like.

 

 

We keep that white stuff on the bottom of the drawer to keep everything from sliding everywhere when its opened and closed, which is often.

 

This is what the chart looks like and you can find a copy of it here on Google Docs if you want to use it.

 

 

 

On the actual copy that I printed out I put matching stickers on the timers and on the sheet so that the kids could tell them apart. There are pictures too because my youngest two cannot really read yet and so the pictures help them understand what they are doing. We also sat down and had a discussion and another run through on how to properly brush teeth to make sure that everyone was on the same page.

 

 

This kiddo is pretty happy about the changes and I am as well, so ready to see how much they help in our morning routine.

 

 

 



No he is not actually going to the bathroom, he took his Ipad in their and sat on the closed toilet so that he wouldn't waste any of his Ipad time (he only gets 1 hour a day)

 

Jenny