As parents, many of us have experienced this moment: You say cheerfully to your toddler or young child, “it is time to brush your teeth!” and reach for the brush and toothpaste.

“Noooo….” she howls, running out of the bathroom. Or you are greeted with a tightly closed mouth and a sullen face. Nothing you say or do seems to matter. This kid just does not want to brush her teeth. So what do you do?

Maybe you get frustrated and begin the battle. You try to coerce and convince. You chase them around the house, brush in hand. Maybe you get so frustrated (and attached to your idea that it has to happen now) that you pry their little mouth open and brush them anyway, fighting against their resistance.

If you have done any of those things, you probably know it doesn’t feel very good!

You care about your children’s health. You want them to have strong teeth and minimal dental procedures. Brushing their teeth is an act of love, so of course you want it to be loving. Also, you don’t want them to have negative associations with an activity (oral hygiene) that they need to take care of their whole lives.

I recently chatted with some other moms who, like me, are committed to having a respectful, cooperative relationship with their children. Here are some ideas that came out of the conversation about working with kids when they do not want to brush their teeth:

1. Be playful! Find a fun puppet who enjoys brushing teeth and make it a game. Consider buying several toothbrushes with different themes and let your child choose. Use funny voices or songs to make it more interesting. Invite your child to brush your teeth first and then switch and brush theirs!


2. Offer options. Ask your child where he would like to brush his teeth, sometimes changing rooms can be helpful. We sometimes bush our toddler's teeth in bed. If the child is really resisting using the toothbrush, wipe their teeth with a washcloth. Often you can get them just as clean and the change makes it more agreeable. Xylitol toothpastes are another option that can work really well.


3. Share information. By age two, many children can understand some of the reasons behind teeth brushing. Saying simply “we need to get your teeth clean,” might be enough. Or, if you want to give more details, you can explain how little bugs (bacteria) get on teeth and eat tiny holes into them, causing pain. They may want to clean off the bugs! Don't share this if you feel it might scare your more sensitive child.


4. Be flexible! Realize that skipping one night of brushing is not going to be the end of the world. If your little one really needs to say “no” then let it go for a night. You might find much more resistance the next night if you force the issue! If you do skip a brushing, invite your child to rinse their mouth with water or teach them to swish water around in their mouths. They will probably love spitting it out in the bathtub! The most important thing is to put more attention into what they are telling you through their resistance rather than focusing on "getting it done."


5. Create a routine. Many children do not resist toothbrushing if it is part of the nightly ritual from early on when the first teeth appear. Be casual about it, like it’s just one of the things done each night, like putting on pajamas and reading a book. This has been a successful approach in our home.


What works in your home to make teeth brushing easier?

Last weekend my family took a camping trip in our home state, Oregon. We stayed on a huge lake, surrounded by coniferous trees, including redwoods. Mt. Hood stood proudly in the background, still topped in snow.

For the most part, it was a fun trip that included activities interesting to both the teenager and the toddler, with an itinerary developed along the lines of my previous post on planning fun camping trips with kids. We took long walks, floated in our raft, did some fishing, and enjoyed evenings around the campfire.

There were a few challenges, though. We weathered a storm (including hail), for one. We struggled with a tent that no one could set up. And we fought that age-old scourge of campers: A battalion of mosquitoes.

Those little pests love mountain lakes. But we were prepared!

We took Buzz Away Extreme Spray, a natural insect repellant. It was important to us to use a product that is DEET-free, herbal, and most importantly, that works.

One thing that makes this product work well is that it comes in a spray bottle - common among the nasty DEET stuff but not so common for natural products. Some herbal products are oils or lotions and more difficult to apply. Being able to spray it on our heads and over our clothes made a big difference in repelling the relentless critters.

We did have to re-apply every couple of hours, but when we did, it worked. I have tried other natural products that seemed fairly useless. This time, I came home with no bites AT ALL. My husband (who used it less frequently) did have bites on his legs.

The only downside is that the smell is fairly strong (think Citronella).

Buzz Away also claims to repel other pests like ticks and fleas. We didn’t run into any of those, but I wouldn’t doubt it. One interesting claim they make is that DEET-based products repel fish as well. Not sure about that although it certainly piques my interest as we did do some fishing on the trip. But the bottom line is that we are not willing to risk the potential harmful effects of DEET for humans.

As I stood by Timothy Lake and watched a swarm of mosquitoes fly around my toddler, I was glad we had our Buzz Away Spray. We might have gotten a couple of bites, but we could have been miserable!

You can pick up Buzz Away! mosquito repellant on Amazon or on the Buzz Away website.

What about you? How do you ward off the critters when you are enjoying the great outdoors?

Who doesn’t love the sights and smells of a great and local farmer’s market? I have been taking my daughter to the Boulder Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings, and we are giddy with excitement to see all of the fresh tomatoes, spinach and herbs on each corner stand. But I tend to get ahead of myself and overbuy on fruits and vegetables, scrambling to find delicious and creative recipes at the last minute. And if your gardening has been successful this year and your seedlings have turned into blooming and edible veggies, you might also be looking for some new ways to cook up produce this summer. If this sounds like your summer dilemma, I want to share a few of my favorite fruit and vegetable recipes with you.

I have mentioned 101cookbooks.com in a previous post, but I think it is worth noting again. 101cookbooks.com is a great site to explore many different types of recipes and cooking techniques. You can search recipes by ingredients such as asparagus or spinach, or search by course such as soups or appetizers. This orzo super salad recipe is chock full of summer fresh asparagus, broccoli, cilantro, cucumber and avocado. If you are like me during the winter months in Colorado, this is the type of salad that you will be craving to eat fresh next February!

For most of us, salads are much more appealing during the summer months. But salads can be a nutritional nightmare if you choose unhealthy toppings or dressings. So consider getting more creative at home, and trying to replace high saturated fat salad dressings with a homemade, healthier choice. Take this Vegan Caesar Salad from Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s cookbook, Veganomicon. We made this salad at home a few weeks ago, and it turned out really good - the taste is as close as you will get to a real Caesar salad. We enjoyed this tofu-based salad dressing so much that we continued to use as a cracker/vegetable dip.

Do you have too many avocados sitting on your kitchen counter? The easiest way to use (and devour) avocadoes is to quickly whip up a bowl of guacamole. Since guacamole happens to be #1 favorite food, I have tried many guacamole recipes, and this one by Barefoot Contessa continues to be my all-time favorite. I think the secret to her guacamole is found in step #2—be sure to first spoon out the avocado, add the other ingredients and then chop up everything in the bowl. This allows the avocados to remain nice and chunky, but you still incorporate all the other flavors of red onion, lemons, hot sauce, and so on.

If you are familiar with Eating Well magazine, you know the publication contains beautiful photos and delicious, healthy recipes. And their website is very similar. I recently had a few too many tomatoes and not much time to prepare them. So I found this five-minute recipe for baked parmesan tomatoes. A little parmesan, olive oil, salt and pepper can turn your leftover tomatoes into a colorful side dish.

Do you have any favorite recipes for your farmer’s market produce? If so, please share them with us and let’s continue to support our local agriculture!