If you’ve been here since last year, you know that Ishu was a big fan of brushing his teeth. He’d squeal and voluntarily open up his mouth for the banana brush to go in and brush all 8-10 teeth he had.

But, over time, the novelty wore off. And brushing Ishu’s teeth became quite the battle for a while.

I thought I solved the issue by bringing in choice. Okay, so he won’t brush. But what if I give him two toothbrushes to choose from?

Yeah, that worked.

For two days.

And then it was back to the screaming and running away from the bathroom.

But, over winter break, I discovered that by playing this song – no matter where he is, no matter what he is doing – he drops EVERYTHING to brush his teeth. When Elmo says, “Okay, everybody! Grab your toothbrush!” he grins SO BIG, screams a high-pitched scream of excitement, and runs over to me where I’m holding his toothbrush out.

And then he legitimately dances and wiggles his way through the song, brushing his back teeth, doing the “EEEEEEE” brushing, scrubbing real nice and good.

I need to get this on video.

It’s a must-see.

Especially the end. Where Elmo says, “5-4-3-2-1-NOW SPIT!”

Then his eyes get really wide and he runs back to the bathroom asking to be picked up so he can “spit” and wash off his toothbrush.

This is what’s working.

I am no longer the naive mother who thinks this will work forever. It HAS worked for 2 weeks so it’s been a great little solution for now.

But, like my friend Anuja says, the best parenting advice is, “Don’t get too comfortable.” Once you think something i working, your kid’s gonna change it up on you.

So, I’m soaking this up for however long it lasts.

Because he’s brushing, yes. BUT, also IT’S THE CUTEST FREAKING THING EVER.

I 10/10 recommend wiggling through your brushing routine. It really does make it a whole lot more fun.