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I posted a few weeks ago about my parenting fail regarding dental hygiene, and that we’d signed up for the Listerine and Reach Healthy Habits for a Lifetime challenge.

I’m happy to report that while we’re not perfect, we’re doing a lot better at our house.

I’ve started flossing. I know. It’s miraculous. But when I floss and use Listerine Total Care rinse, I can’t believe how much cleaner my mouth feels (and is!).

My kids are all about using Listerine Smart Rinse too, which is great, because their brushing skills are still slightly suspect.

We hung this paper in our bathroom and the kids checked off each day, helping them to get into the habit of brushing/flossing/rinsing.

If helping your family establish better oral care habits is something you’d like to work on, click here to access to tips from leading dental experts and great values and prices on oral care products.

Here in Ohio, this week it’s really started to feel like spring. I wasn’t a huge fan of the time change the first few mornings, but the days being longer is so nice. We’ve been spending time outside and just tonight we fired up the grill for the first time. Kate and I took a walk last night after dinner – just the two of us… no little brothers, TVs or cell phones. We talked, made plans for the summer, and took note of the signs of spring we saw all over.

It’s warm, it’s sunny, it’s wonderful.

There’s just something about spring, don’t you think? Something freeing. It’s a time to start fresh, a time to leave worries behind. A time to live without worry. To open the windows and air out our houses, our attitudes, and our lives. I, for one, could use some fresh air, and I’m excited to see what this new season holds for us all.

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My biggest parenting deficiency? Where do I begin. It’s not that, or that, or that, thankyouverymuch.

It’s dental hygiene.

It’s a terrible thing to admit, I know, but I am, uh, less than diligent about making my kids brush their teeth.

I know.

So when our friends at The Motherhood reached out and asked if I’d like to participate in the Listerine Healthy Habits for a Lifetime Oral Care Challenge, I thought that now’s as good a time as any (except, you know, like eight years ago) to start promoting healthy habits in my kids. After all, February is National Children’s Dental Health Month – we might as well celebrate.

The Challenge was kicked off in a webinar with oral care experts, and I learned some interesting things. Here are some tips for your kids from Dr. Kaneta Lott, DDS, a pediatric dentist:
–Make oral care fun (e.g., make it a game; brush, floss and rinse to music; etc).
–Reward their behavior (e.g., give gold stars for good oral care).
–Show, don’t tell – make oral care a family affair.
–Involve them in their own oral care routine by providing products like LISTERINE Smart Rinse, which can make the daily routine more fun, provides 12-hour cavity protection for kids and strengthens teeth 99 percent better than brushing alone.

I do… let’s see… none of those things.

And here’s more – I’m not a flosser. My teeth get flossed when I go to the dentist (which believe it or not, I do regularly), and that’s about it. I need to get on it, though, because according to the folks at Reach:
Many people don’t realize that brushing alone misses 75% of your mouth! And since there can be more germs in our mouth than there are people on earth, it’s more important than ever to make sure to do everything we can to keep our mouths healthy — including brushing, flossing and rinsing every day.

ohmahgah people, more germs in our mouths than people on earth.

Excuse me while I go floss real quick. And also gargle some bleach.

Anyway, to facilitate my participation in the Challenge, I received a box full of Listerine and Reach products – but to tell you the truth, we already had most of them! My kids have Reach toothbrushes and Listerine SmartRinse, and my husband can’t live without his regular Listerine. That stuff is a little much for me, so I was glad to find an alcohol-free version that’s a little less intense!

Of course, there’s also floss included… I am going to have to suck it up and get in the habit of using it.

I’ll report back in a few weeks to let you know how we’ve done with the challenge of basic grooming increasing our dental health, but until then, I’ve gotta know… am I alone here or do some of you struggle with getting your kids to brush their teeth well? If you don’t, any tips you could share with the rest of us?

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Disclosure: I received products and compensation from Johnson & Johnson and The Motherhood
as part of my participation in the Oral Care Challenge. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this post are my own, as I’m sure they don’t want to be complicit in my dental negligence.