A little wheeling and dealing

A little toddler disciplinary triumph today worth recording - and am probably more motivated to do so since Duncan is away and I have no one to tell!

Duncan and I have been surprised that Eden suddenly would not let us brush his teeth and it has been like that for around a week. As you may remember - this used to be the draw card to get him upstairs, his favourite thing, his 'budda budda'. I had been wondering if he was getting his back molars but there was no sign of them.

Anyway, my thought was that perhaps I could do some kind of deal with him involving a new toothbrush as bribery - I mean motivation - he badly needed one anyway.

So, new toothbrush with ducks on it in hand (old toothbrush was a dinosaur) I explained to my newly 2 year old that he had a choice - either - he brushed with his old toothbrush (which just involves chewing and sucking at the bristles) or he could let mummy brush his teeth with the very attractive new brush.

Boy oh boy - what a reaction - he threw the toothpaste and both toothbrushes on the floor and stormed out the bathroom in a rage! (He has been a bit like this the past couple of days - my midwife reckons he has a bug brewing). He litterly threw himself down the stairs and when I caught up with him half way down where he had fallen - he had gone white as a sheet! He goes up and down the stairs by himself all the time and is usually only silly on them sometimes, jumping etc when we are holding on to him - he has not taken a tumble before so I think it scared him.

I think his 'B' was involved here somewhere while he collected himself and had a hug at the bottom of the stairs. (His 'B' is his own name for his sheety comforter thing - the old pyjama shirt).

So we went back upstairs and I wondered what would happen - I was pretty sure he understood the deal I was laying out. So I gently explained it again - adding a new part which was that I would brush his teeth counting to ten and then I would give him the brush for a little while.

He meekly let me brush his teeth for a count of ten and then I let him do his chewing bit for a count of ten. Deal done. I know you are supposed to brush for 2 minutes or something ridiculous like that but let's be real - this is a grumpy 2 year old!! It again took a little persuading this evening but we achieved the same result with a smile at the end - yay.