Brush your teeth son

Mornings are a crazy time for every family. There are so many parts that must be put together so that everyone can get where they need to be. Some mornings it seems people wake up screaming, crying, yelling, rushing, and returning to the house more than once in an effort to start the day. 

My oldest son operates on his own time. I tell him he needs to brush his teeth and this results in eye rolling or being told that he brushed his teeth last night, so why does he really need to brush them again? When I remind him that the last time he went to the dentist he had 6 cavities because of this mentality and he says, “But I don’t have 6 cavities anymore.” Yes, because I spent a couple hundred dollars having them filled, so forgive me if I won’t let you skip out on brushing them this morning. He walks into the bathroom and closes the door, which worries me after the conversation we just had. I go and check on him - turns out he has just been staring at himself in the mirror. Again, I remind him to brush those teeth. About a minute later he walks out, which is too soon to be done brushing teeth, and I never heard the water turn on. Hmm… I ask him if he brushed his teeth and he looks at me and says, “Oh no, I forgot.” I mean WHAT?! REALLY?! How do you just forget that? We had this whole pre-toothbrushing conversation that involved him getting annoyed with me, there was that whole hey open the door and brush your teeth episode that literally just happened, and you forgot. He gets so irritated with my constantly reminding him to do everything, but obviously I need to. 

He likes to use the whole ‘but I did that yesterday’ excuse when it comes to getting ready in the mornings and not just with his teeth. He isn’t sure why he needs to change his clothes everyday. I admit that I am not a strong advocate of daily baths, so there are more than a few nights when he goes to bed with his clothes on( all that he ever wears are athletic pants and a t-shirt) and then wakes up thinking he is already dressed for the day. When I tell him he can’t wear that outfit to school again he just doesn’t understand why. He looks down and says, “There are no stains on it.” True, but you wore it yesterday. “What are you telling me, I have to change my clothes EVERY day?” Yes, that is exactly what I am telling you. 

These are basic things I am trying to teach my son before he leaves my house- you need to brush your teeth and change your clothes everyday. I won’t even get started on the fact that sometimes he won’t change socks until I lose it. I am not sure I will be successful, so to my future daughter-in- law, I am sorry. I did try.