Me: Ok time to brush your teeth.
DD: *Shakes head violently*
Me: Now, we always brush teeth before bed, don't we?
DD: *Shakes head violently*
Me: Ok, we don't always but we're going to tonite. (Flash of inspiration after spotting favourite soft toy Bunny sitting to DD's right) What's that you said Bunny? (Hold Bunny to my ear so it can whisper to me)
DD: *Stops shaking head and looks interested*
Me: Ahh... Bunny says that she wants to watch you brush your teeth so that she can learn how to do it!
DD: *Looks more interested* Bunny!
Me: Ok, here we go (brush top and bottom teeth quickly, glancing at Bunny sideways and whispering to DD as I brush), Bunny's still watching!
DD: *Glances at Bunny*
Me: There we are, all done. How was that Bunny? (Hold Bunny to ear again.) Bunny says WELL DONE! She is SO proud of you!
DD: *Beams* Prowwwd
Me: And Mummy's proud of you too.
DD: *Glances at Bunny again, ignoring me*
My tip? Find the character that your little one respects more than you (you know it's true, deal with it and move on), and use and abuse said character to encourage them to do something they don't really want to do like brushing their teeth. Do I feel bad about doing this? Not at all, DD shows real happiness that Bunny is proud of her. Now, I wonder how much Bunny would charge to get DD to eat...
Here are the other entries in this parenting tips carnival:
Nova at Cherished by Me shares her tips in Encouraging Children to Read.
Gemma at HelloitsGemma's Blog gives us her working mum tips in This working Mummy’s guide to life.
Maggy at Red Ted Art shows us how Baby Can Draw!
Chris at Thinly Spread gives us her Secret to Relaxed Parenting.
Cass at The Diary of a Frugal Family shows us how she teaches her children about other countries and cultures whilst having fun in America Day.
Helen at Cheeky Wipes gives us her tips in Fussy Eating.
Mummy Beadzoid gives us some Parenting tips for the NICU/SCBU parent.
Kelly at Domestic Goddesque shares her advice in Terrible Twos: tips for dealing with tantrums?
Ella at Notes From Home gives us her tip for encouraging children to tidy up at the end of the day.
Tiddlyompompom shares her weaning tips in her oh so helpful guide to weaning.
Mymumdom shares her tips in Parenting Tips (Me Over The Edge).
SouthoftheRiverMum tells us her plans to set up a Reward System at Home.
Not so single mum at Diary of a Not So Single Mum shares her advice on doing what you feel is best for your child and your family.
Jax at Making It Up discusses behavioural issues in a quandary in search of a tip.
Hayley at Simply Hayley tells us about Hugs and Love.
Make Do Mum shares her stickability scale in Know Your Enemy.
Blue Sky at Looking for Blue Sky gives us some teenage tips.
Photo credit: Toothbrush by Darren Robertson at freedigitalphotos.net
Oooo now that's a good one. I shall have to pop that in my back pocket for when Bunny is out of favour :)
ReplyDeleteGreat idea. My little one is 18 months too so hopefully it will work. p.s. I love Bod too & Alberto the frog
ReplyDeleteGreat job. How old is DD? We started by singing a song to jingle bells tune, she found it funny :)
ReplyDeleteDD is 18 months and she LOVES music too. I sing to her all the time. It's the one thing that calms her down when she's upset. Singing rocks :)
ReplyDeleteInspired! I'm well past that stage now, but this could have been very useful :)
ReplyDeleteWhy is it everyone else has better flashes of inspiration than me *wails*?? I love this tip. I will undoubtedly steal it. Sorry in advance.
ReplyDeletewell done! we did something similar with a maisy book :)
ReplyDeleteOoo hope it works for you too! Any fellow Bod fan is welcome here *waves* (Well actually anyone is welcome here, but wanted to wave anyway :) )
ReplyDeleteWell so far so good...
ReplyDeleteFeel free to steal, use, abuse and go forth and spread it around at will my dear :)
ReplyDeleteOoo DD LOVES Maisy! I quite often tell her Maisy's done something in the hope she will do it too...
ReplyDeleteBrilliant! We have a whole host of imaginary creatures to help get my lot through the daily routine. We use tooth monsters to brush teeth. First I have to inspect the mouth, at which point I say..there's one there (scrub), and there (scrub scrub) and we get rid of them all eventually. They always return by morning though....
ReplyDeleteHaha, awww that's a lovely idea. I have to 'tickle' my toddler's teeth! ;)
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this idea and I'm going to use it on my littlest who adores his toy dog, thank you so much for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant idea - I wish I'd thought of it when my two were a bit smaller. You really made me laugh with the 'you know it's true, deal with it and move on' bit x
ReplyDeletesimple, but effective.
ReplyDeleteFeel free! Let me know how it goes :)
ReplyDeleteWow really? How on earth do you do that? More details perlease...
ReplyDeleteStory of my life :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Cass - you know sometimes you just have to accept it right? :)
ReplyDelete