Thought of the Day 02.10.10

Like all little boys, our three-year-old is at a point where he wants to do everything for himself. He’ll probably outgrow it in seventy or eighty years, but until then, it’s sort of a thing. As a result, he’s always pressed me to let him brush his own teeth, and, being the good-cop parent, I’ve let him…with occasional daddy-brushings for safe measure.

Well, even though Ethan doesn’t have any cavities, my wife (the bad cop) still insisted on asking the dentist when children can brush themselves. She said around 8 or 9, when they can write cursive. As a result (with my tail between my legs), I now brush both boys every night. (The dentist said they can brush themselves for funsies in the morning.)

Ethan just doesn’t like it. But of course he also doesn’t know what an awful thing it is to have a cavity. And if I’m successful, he never will. So, in the end, if things work out properly, all he’ll know is that he missed out on the joy of self-determination and possibly hold that against me for lack of having experienced a filling. Nevertheless, I brush on. Sometimes the fact that they don’t quite believe you’re a good parent is the best evidence that you really are.