Ahhhhh, how fast life moves. It has been a fantastic summer, filled with more activity than I ever thought possible. We just moved a few short months ago but it already feels like a lifetime. Between buying new furniture, and figuring out why each and every appliance in the new house systematically quit over the last couple of months, it has been a challenge to maintain the household, our marriage and keep normal work details straight. So, definitely should add training for a half marathon onto that … more on that later!
We don’t have any animals at our home that have hair because my Mom is allergic to cats, dogs and even birds. And, let’s be honest, having Grandma visit versus having another living being that Mom ends up taking care of? #NoContest This does mean that the kids are intensely curious about cats, dogs, pigs, sheep, chickens and basically anything with a heart, hair and four feet.
Awwwww, kittens! And, they were sale/donation too but we managed to not bring any of them home with us.
Life sure looks idyllic in these photos doesn’t it? Thank goodness for sweet moments like these because after 7 p.m. at night, all bets are off and the kids turn into little portals of whirling dervish. They both fight going to sleep (but not more than they fight teeth brushing; my goodness! Even the threat of shots does not get them to brush their teeth! Got any hints for me on that? I will take any and all parenting advice on that subject).
I run a pretty strict, no-refined-sugar household but when the Grandparents come to visit, all bets are off! Little Lily just had her first taste of licorice ice cream in the photo above and she is SO happy. The black lips and tongue took quite some time to wear off too. My kids aren’t totally deprived of sugar though; they have a banana ice cream maker (three cheers for Yonanas!) and we make applesauce popsicles and date/pecan/cocoa energy balls. They get plenty of sugars in their copious amounts of fruit and we happily bribe them with M & M’s when we need to.
While I’ve been training for my half-marathon, Chris is training for his full marathon. He is an accomplished runner and actually decent at it (unlike me; I have a long love-hate relationship with running). His pipe engineering and fiberglass inspection business is going gangbusters with the addition of some ROV (remote operated vehicles), push cameras (for going down pipes) and a microwave technology that measures pipe thickness. It means more travel and weekend work for him but as anyone that is self-employed knows, ya’ gotta’ get while the getting is good! He makes lots of time for quality family time though and the kids love playing creatively with him.
Chris had plenty of family time this morning when I ran the Bellingham Bay 1/2 Marathon with my good friends Lisa (brand new runner), Patrice (due with her 4th child next month) and Peg (64 years old! What an inspiration!).
We were blessed with fantastic weather (the craziest, most gorgeous day ever for September). The Bellingham Bay Marathon is one of the most gorgeous races in the country, going through quaint neighborhoods, glorious parks and along the waterfront.
We finished the race strong. The cheering crowd helped a lot! And between Patrice and I, we had quite the mini-me cheering section (5 kids between us plus one on the way). Plus, I had my homemade date/pecan/vanilla powder/mushroom protein/chia seed energy bars so that helped the last long mile.
Our full non-official team was thrilled at the end. Raven, Lisa’s daughter, joined us in colors and at the finish line. She was racing for time (2 hours!) and the rest of us were racing just to cross that finish line. Big thanks to my sweet husband for watching the kids during training runs and my folks for coming up to support (and to take the great action shots!). It was a great day and a check-mark for the bucket list. More importantly, we all finished a race that we committed to. That felt really good. I’ll be stretching a lot tonight and trying not to hobble into work tomorrow. Happy weekend everyone!
That is fantastic! I have a hate-love relationship with running. But lately I feel like it, but just didn’t started yet. One tip it did really help me with my 2 daughters for their teeth brushing was electrical ones, they just did love it, and wanted to use all the time, LOL, and for the hair they did love scented detangle spray.
I really need to invest in that. One other Soap Queen reader mentioned that and if that does it, I am so sold! Tonight was another battle despite trying many of the tips already mentioned =) Lily was fine. Jamisen was another story. Ahhhh, parenting is such a mystery isn’t it? =))) Thank you for reading and commenting.
This morning you gogged a memory from my past. When I had small children that were old enough to have some understanding of cleanlieness we gave them a pink tablet to chew. This might work best on a non work day morning. After chewing the tablet there would be pink and bright pink markings on their teeth. The darker the pink the thicker the overnight plaque deposit. Then we set them to brush their own teeth. They had fun working away until the pink was gone. I haven’t heard of this tactic in years you might want to check with your dentist. Good luck!
Oh, yes, I remember those! Amazon carries them. They’re called “Disclosing Tablets.” Here’s a link: http://www.amazon.com/Butler-Red-cote-Dental-Disclosing-Tablets/dp/B000WADTGA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1443806736&sr=8-2&keywords=disclosing+tablets
I loved those tablets. They tasted good and made your mouth look so awful and it really grossed-out the parents.
A bonus for your kids: when you rinse with a mouthwash, it will turn their “spit” yet a different color!
These ARE a bit messy, but the results are quite grand. They can make a contest to see who gets the most red out of their mouths.
Make sure you have some Soft Scrub with bleach to wipe the sink out afterwards. It can stain (but, easy to clean).
Oh my goodness, I hadn’t thought about that in years (!). My folks did that too with me. GENIUS! I am off to find those on Amazon right now.
Good hint about the soft scrub with bleach.
Between this idea, getting more feedback on what Jamisen ‘doesn’t like about teeth brushing, turning it into family teeth brushing time AND doing a ‘prize at the end of the toothpaste’ container, I feel like we might be on a decent track to more calm evenings =) They are SO going to love the tablets ….
Oh swell sounds like you are on the right track now! You mention night time brushing drama but not morning brushing drama and I wonder if it has to do with darkness?
It definitely doesn’t happen as much because we don’t brush their teeth nearly as much in the morning (we seem to perpetually run 5 minutes behind) with the morning shuffle to school but in general, they are much more agreeable in the morning. I bet it has to do with being well rested and also excitement about school. They both love school (thankfully). =)
Have you asked the munchkins why they don’t like to brush their teeth?
Our son didn’t like to brush his teeth when he was old enough to do it himself. We asked him why. He said, “I just don’t!” Hmmm, not an acceptable answer. We said, “No, you need to give us the actual reason. Not just, “I don’t or can’t or I don’t know or no.” Does the brush hurt or scratch? Is the brush too big? Is it the toothpaste? Does it taste bad or make your mouth feel icky? Is the water too cool? We need answers.”
Turns out a few things, he didn’t like the bristles in his toothbrush (too hard, even though it was a children’s type with soft bristles), it hurt his hand to hold the brush AND he didn’t like the toothpaste flavor. Simple fixes. We did go through a few toothbrushes to find the right one (a Sonic Care ended up being the right one – for all of us! – he liked how it did the work, not his hand). And, we did the same with toothpastes. Turned out, he really disliked the children’s flavored pastes (I had to agree, who wants to brush their teeth and have a berry after-flavor in the taste buds!). We switched to Tom’s of Maine toothpaste for sensitive teeth (NO fluoride). He has not missed a brushing session ever since. We also found out he has hand issues because of a disability that wasn’t to be diagnosed until he was 14!! Holding the toothbrush caused pain in his hand. ((To this day, he can only write a tiny bit before his hand cramps and “freezes”. Thank goodness for the laptop he uses for all his schoolwork!)) The Sonic Care allows him to hold the brush without using a lot of grip strength and no pain. Easy, easy, easy fixes!!
He’s now almost 17 and has never had a cavity (in baby OR permanent teeth) or any dental problems (other than braces, and they were mightily impressed that his teeth were so well-cared-for during the 18 months of wires). He’s also had whatever sweets he wanted growing up, he just brushed and flossed afterwards.
Your recollection of sitting on them to make them brush made me remember, when I was a little girl, my own wonderful Mom (she died in 2012) sitting on me, at a shoe store, trying to get me to try on shoes. I kept telling her how they hurt, but she said it was nonsense, they were the right size and were the proper shoes. She’d get so frustrated over my refusal to wear ANY shoes at every chance. I’m not trying to paint Mom in an evil light, just saying how parents often think they know everything about their children’s feelings (they don’t)! Then, at age 14, I had multiple surgeries, on both feet, over the course of a full year, because of bone issues which had been going on for years (prior to that, I didn’t know my feet should feel anything but painful, nobody ever asked me). Hmmm, my feet hurt for a reason and the best shoes in the world would not have made them feel good. Mom always felt bad about my feet thereafter (she shouldn’t have, it was just what it was). But, I still remember her holding me too tight and how it scared me that shoes were so important that she would do that… Don’t give your kids those kinds of memories.
So, ask the kids why they hate brushing so much. Their answers might make things easier, for everyone.
I’m totally all over this – and so happy to spend as much time and money as we need to keep questioning and getting to the bottom of it. I tried the questioning last night and didn’t get very far – meaning, he wasn’t able to describe what he didn’t like about the teeth brushing but I’ll give it another try tonight. I’d love to put this issue to bed once and for all because it’s no fun to argue about something that doesn’t need to be an argument (if I finesse it right, that is!). =) Thank you for that helpful suggestion and sharing your positive results. That’s inspiring =)
When we had tooth brushing issues at our house I had my son brush my teeth (without paste) while I brushed his. Then I said “now you brush yours”. It worked for us. No cavities for any of my kids, ages 20, 17, and 10. Good luck!
Someone else mentioned family brushing time – so two suggestions for that means I so am going to try that! Thank you for reading and chiming in. If my kids stay cavity free, it’ll be because of the thoughtful Soap Queen readers =) I’m pretty sure their teeth brushing isn’t so awesome when they’re squirming as much as they do =)
Congrats on your half finish! (I’m currently training for my 5, 6 & 7th full, so I can appreciate that effort!) As for enticing your littles to brush their teeth, I got nothing. Mine do that without a fight. Maybe you can tell me how to get my 3 yr old to eat…I’m not sure how she’s surviving right now. 🙂
FULL!? You are awesome. I always thought a full was on my bucket list …. until I started training for this half. And then was like “Wow, it takes a long time to run 12 miles for a training run!” You are my hero for going for 3 more marathons with littles in the house.
As for how I get my kids to eat, they help me make almost all the food. We grow sprouts and mushrooms in our kitchen, have a garden and then cook together (they’ll mix, turn the blender on, measure out stuff etc) and for my kids, when they have helped me make it, they are SO much more apt to eat it. We also did Raddish Kids for a while: http://www.raddishkids.com/ and they LOVED that. But you know how kids are; next month, they could both be like your three year old and completely deciding they never want to eat again. They seem to go in stages.
Thank you for reading and commenting. I really appreciate the support =)
My children were very motivated with a progress chart. They got to add a small star for every day they did the desired behavior. When they filled it up, some small toy or treat was given. If you try it, keep the time short and the prize small. Small children will lose motivation if they have to wait too long. Hope it helps with the tooth brushing!
You know, that is a great idea! We have one but it didn’t work for them but it’s been at least six months since I tried – and six months is a LONG time in kid world – so I’m betting it might be more motivating. Maybe also letting them go to the store and pick out the toy ahead of time so that they can see what they would ‘win’? Hmmmm … good one.
What a fabulous summer!
I’m interested in this comment “figuring out why each and every appliance in the new house systematically quit” ? I wonder what was the conclusion of these appliance episodes please ?
Oh my goodness, the conclusion was that my credit card was SO sad for the last two months. I swear, we had the repair people to our house (this is not a joke) weekly for two months because just when one thing was fixed, another thing would break. It was this insane, hilarious, “Is this really happening to me? Am I on candid camera?!”
And, guess what? The very last electrical thing in the house (at least, I think it is) that could possibly break just did. Repair people again this week. It is like this awesome comedy of errors. I know there’s a lesson and a plan in there; I just need to figure out what it is. Either that, or there’s some massive short someplace that’s just killing all the appliances but I’m going with random occurrences… =)
What a fun and busy summer, I hope things go smoothly in the fall for you and your family and you get some wind down time. I don’t know what flavor of toothpaste you use but the bubblegum seemed to work when my kids were small. I would put a quarter in the jar every every night they brushed and told them when the jar was full we could take it to the bank coin machine and then take them shopping for whatever they think they needed. Have a beautiful Autumn, I can imagine how beautiful it must get on the coast. Sincerely, Kristie
P.S. The smaller the jar the better it fills up faster.😉
P.S. The smaller the jar the better it fills up faster.😉 You could add brushing thier teeth to part of thier chore list and pay them weekly. At that age just picking up thier toys is good enough.
I love this idea – thank you for that thought. It’s too bad that I can’t encapsulate candy in there (hello, dramatic and terrible irony). My kids value sugar currency way more than real currency =)
I am going to try this for sure – and quickly. Before my kid’s teeth rot OR they are permanently traumatized by me sitting on them and holding their arms down AND plugging their nose to get them to open their mouth. Really. That happened two nights ago. It was such a #ParentoftheYear moment. I was horrified but also, super motivated to not let their teeth rot so …
You are hilarious, I hope you get some more great ideas incase that one doesn’t work! And please share your energy bar recipe.
Brushing kids’ teeth is so difficult! The thing that worked for both my son and nephew was getting them an electric toothbrush. Seems kind of silly, but it totally worked! And, sometimes I make up silly songs while he brushes about where we need to brush next. It also seems to help if one of us brushes our teeth at the same time. Have a great fall!
The electric toothbrush eh? That sounds like a fantastic plan. I will try that. Thank you for that suggestion.
And I haven’t tried having the entire family brush their teeth together. That’s a good idea …. thank you.