I have been working really hard with the kids to get them to do more things themselves. I expect Emma and Ian to be able to go downstairs in the morning and pick out their clothes and then get dressed. I have them take their dirty dishes to the sink and clear the table after they eat. They usually feed the cat. One of the things I have been really laid back about is the tooth brushing. I ask them to do it in the mornings. The problem is that mornings are so crazy and we are usually rushing and just trying to get out the door on time.

Yesterday we made a visit to the dentist. Emma and Ian had four cavities each! I guess now we are all paying for not paying more attention to the tooth brushing. Luckily for Emma, her cavities are fairly small. She won’t even need Novocaine to fill them. Ian was not so lucky. His are all deeper and will need numbing to fix them. He has two on each side, so the dentist suggested doing it on two different visits so they don’t have to numb his entire mouth. They gave me some prescriptions so that he will be somewhat sedated before we go in for the procedure. I am sure that it won’t be much fun for him.

Since the visit we all have a new dedication to tooth brushing. Hopefully this will be a wake up call for the kids (and me ) to give us the kick in the pants that we needed. Tooth brushing, both morning and night, is now mandatory for all of us!