For a while now brushing Garrett's teeth has been a big chore. Matt and I both look at each other and ask, "who's going to brush Garrett's teeth tonight?" And then grudgingly drag Garrett into the bathroom. It usually involves some screaming, lots of water everywhere, and sometimes even wrestling. Its no fun at all! UNTIL the sticker chart! Thanks to a tip from my lovely friend Shayna (don't know why I didn't think of it, I am/was a teacher after all) I drew up a nifty little sticker chart and taped it on the bathroom door. Now all we have to say is, "Lets go brush teeth and see if you can earn a sticker!" And he runs, cheering, in the the bathroom, "Yeah, I brush my teef, I get a ticker!" My rules are: He has to let me (or Matt) help him brush without resisting. We also have two toothbrushes for him, a blue one and a green one. But first he chooses a flosser to use and I floss a few of his teeth, then he "flosses" while I put toothpaste on both his brushes. Then he chooses which toothbrush he wants and I take the other one, I wait a bit while he chews on his and sucks off all the toothpaste and then its my turn to brush. When I say, "Say AH" he opens up wide and I scrub the back teeth, and when I say, "Say cheese" he shows me his front teeth and I get those (these were always the hardest before the sticker chart when he remained quite tight lipped!) Then he sticks out his tongue. Yup, he's even learning to brush his tongue.
Yes, I know I said I'd start every post with a joyful parenting moment, but this was it. I LOVE THE STICKER CHART! Bribing is so much fun, especially when all it takes is a simple little sticker! There's an added perk to the sticker chart. Garrett loves to count his stickers. Math lesson! BUT he's still counting, "1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10!"
Here's his chart after adding a few stickers. He has 10 or 11 now and has gotten one every time we've brushed so far!
What would Love and Logic say? Well I think they'd give me props for all the choices! He gets to choose his flosser, he gets to choose his toothbrush, he gets to choose which sticker he wants and where he wants to put it! I can also use an enforceable statement like, "I give stickers when you let me help you brush your teeth." I probably should model it more. Yes, I do brush my teeth (AND floss) but not so much in front of him because I frequently want a glass of wine after he goes to bed and who wants that nasty taste of wine over toothpaste?
No comments:
Post a Comment