Toothbrush

The very first word JT uttered was toothbrush.  That fact amuses me because his toothbrushing habits haven’t always been what I might hope.  When he had braces, I hounded him to brush and he mostly did so.  The removal of his braces and the addition of a retainer has also made brushing more desirable from his point of view.  That’s progress.  Naturally, he at once demanded a new toothbrush.

Santa obliged and put a pink toothbrush in his Christmas stocking.  Santa wasn’t being mean; JT’s manhood is not threatened by pink.  But I also have a pinkish toothbrush (it has the name of my dentist and looks different if one is paying attention…ahem).  And now you know where this story is headed.

One morning last week I realized that JT’s toothbrush was bone dry.  So I told him to brush.  “I already did,” he said.

“Then why is your toothbrush dry?” I asked.

He rolled into the bathroom, genuinely concerned, and I began to think that he had brushed.  He checked out the toothbrushes, realized he had used mine, and offered a thought, “Who is the super genius who got us toothbrushes that are the same color?”

As he attempted to spit out the rest of my germs into the sink, I reminded him of the manner in which he entered the world.  This wasn’t quite the comfort I had hoped it would be.  So later that week I scored a multipack of new toothbrushes in colors unlikely to be confusing.

The silver lining of this story is the fact that the boy is brushing before I nag him to do so.  Successful parenting, y’all!