Kids' Toothbrushing Problems Solved (Fisher Price) Giveaway, Ends 10/5

There's a running joke in my childhood home that I had a magic toothbrush. I'd stand in front of the bathroom mirror, my mom says, and yell "Magic toothbrush, brush my teeth!" Needless to say, I hated the actual brushing of the teeth.

The apple doesn't fall that far from the tree. Try as we might, toothbrushing is not fun. And my kid is much too intelligent to convince her that is. So we've reverted to the old-fashioned, "if you don't do it, your teeth will rot out of your mouth." What? It's the truth, isn't it?


Only problem is. . . smarty pants knows that we have said only that you have to "brush your teeth," not how LONG you have to spend doing the deed. So I'll totally cop to falling prey to the entrance of a bit of swag. Fisher-Price Sing-With-Me Stool? That's what you call a godsend, my friend.

Offered up by the folks at Fisher-Price, I was . . . intrigued? It's for the younger set (more on that later), but the buttons on it got me. There's two. One each for handwashing and toothbrushing, and each one plays a song . . . which lasts the approximate amount of time a kid should be doing either/or.

Now, I've tried everything. The toothbrushes that light up and stay lit up as long as you're supposed to brush. But she keeps taking the brush out to look. The songs that you can sing in your head. But she wants to sing them out loud which makes it near impossible to get her to actually brush.

So dare I say I love this idea? I had a toddler person try it out too, and got the same result. They follow the cues and voila . . . improved hygiene.

So with a happy mom moment, I talked to Fisher-Price about giving one away, and they obliged. One Sing-With-Me Step Stool (which I should note can be TURNED OFF if they're driving you bonkers) for an Inside Out reader . . .

So you want it? Here's the deal. Leave me a comment detailing your toothbrushing or handwashing problem. Is it a kid? A grandkid? What's going on?

For extra entries: 

1. Become a Facebook fan of Inside Out Motherhood, and leave a comment telling me (and drop by to leave me a comment on there too if you want -- I'm a glutton for looooove).
2. Follow me on Twitter @jeannesager and tweet this giveaway -- you MUST have an actual link to the giveaway in the tweet, or it doesn't count. Leave a link to your Tweet in the comments below.
3. Grab my blog button (you'll see it at left), post it on your blog, then leave me a link in comments so I can come visit you and say hi!

I think that's it. Oh yeah -- make sure I have some way to contact you if you're the winner. If you're a blogger and have a contact on your blog, that'll do so you don't have to put your email out there for the world to see. But if not, how about a Twitter handle, something, so I can reach out. Or you can check back. The contest will end October 5.