His Four Front Teeth

To the tune of "Come out and play with me" (click for original words and music)

Oh, Mr. Toothbrush, come out and play with me
and brush my little teeth
and make them so shiny.

We brush the front sides,
we brush the back sides too,
and we'll have shiny teeth, forevermore
One, two, three, four.

Over the last four months I have taken care of two children, one 7 years old and one 3 years old, who had to have almost all of their teeth removed prior to starting chemotherapy because the horrifying contents of their mouth posed too large an infection risk to an immunocompromised patient.
Neither family felt too strongly about oral hygiene.
One father sort of shrugged and said he figured she'd get new teeth anyway.
The other father told me he just felt it wasn't worth the fight. He did seem embarrassed that a pair of college educated medical professionals had let their child get into this state.
I also watched an infant with hemophilia spend time in the ICU with bleeding complications after having all his rotten baby teeth removed.

So, I wrote Nathan a toothbrushing song.
Twice a day, in the morning and at bedtime, I brush his teeth.
Nathan likes the song and doesn't mind the brushing at all.
Dave had to learn the words because he garnered some furrowed brow confusion from Nathan when he tried to make up his own version.

It's just a little fingerbrush, but it's setting a precedent and forming a routine. When he's one and two and beyond this will just be something he's always done. I don't pretend that we will never argue about it, that he'll never refuse or pout or moan, or that we'll never a skip a night 'cause we're late or a morning 'cause we're late for school. Still, I will not have a baby/toddler/child with rotten teeth or a mouthful of silver when a little parental attention can go so far to prevent it.

His teeth, though troublemakers, are so darn cute now, and I am looking forward to playing tooth fairy and tucking those tiny pearly whites away in a keepsake box. I have to polish my future jewels and keep them blemish free.