I don't want to brush my teeth - excuse #101

I remember one particularly traumatizing evening as a child...probably actually a teenager or just about. I was asleep. Long asleep...and exhausted. And my father woke me up screaming at me to brush my teeth. I don't even know if he knew whether or not I had brushed my teeth or not. I remember crying and screaming as I was literally dragged to the bathroom. I don't remember much after that, but I do remember the trauma of being woken up from some deep sleep and then the screaming and crying.

My oldest son doesn't like to brush his teeth. Maybe it's genetic. His excuse tonight was that the cut on his tongue would hurt. I told him that I was going to write that down and make a list of excuses. He didn't like that idea. I've never dragged him out of bed, but I have yelled a few times, mostly because it takes about 100x more time to "discuss" the matter than to just do it.

So do I let him not brush his teeth? And years later get the blame for his cavities? I tried explaining to him tonight (he's 6, by the way, and I think intelligent enough to get all of these conversations) why sometimes parents need to not let their kids do certain things. I asked him if he would let his little brother Isaac play with knives or razor blades. "Of course not". "Why?" "Because he could get hurt." "Even if he wanted to play with the razor blades?" "I still wouldn't let him." Then I asked if he wanted his teeth to fall out. I explained that the sugar from the grapes that he just ate would stay on his teeth and dissolve and form little holes that would work their way down to the nerve and it would hurt very badly and then they'd have to drill his teeth and fill it with something. And if they had to do that too many times his teeth would come out...And he couldn't eat apples or chicken nuggets or anything unless it was being eaten with a straw.

He said "fine" and then walked to the bathroom and began another protest. We eventually agreed on a "quick" brushing. Maybe if I can get a "quick" brushing every night I can eventually lengthen the brushing time. To make matters slightly worse though, when he was rinsing his mouth, he spilled the water on his shirt which became a "catastrophe" and so the episode gets that much more dramatic...Oy.