Go Away Germs

Getting Dao to brush his teeth takes quite a bit of patience and effort. He doesn’t quite get the important of brushing his teeth yet. So I gave him a little demonstration last night using Photoshop.

I pulled up a recent photo of him and zoomed into his smiley face. I selected the yellow stains on his teeth using the Magic Wand Tool and pointed out to him, “You see all that germs running around your teeth?” He replied, “Yeah, like Curious George.” He referred to one of Curious George’s episodes on germs. I said, “That’s right and if you don’t brush your teeth, this is what is going to happen to your teeth.” I slowly darkened his teeth by adjusting the image’s level. He quickly ran into the bathroom and asked me to brush his teeth. I just took my time and did it slowly without having to hold him down. Afterward, he held water in his mouth and spat it out saying, “Go away germs. Go down the hole.”

With the daylight saving time changed this morning, he didn’t get up until almost 8 o’clock. I told him to go brush his teeth and the reaction was “no.” So I reminded him what happened yesterday if he doesn’t want to brush his teeth. He quickly got up and ran into the bathroom and we did the same thing we did last night. After we all done, he said, “The germs in my mouth are gone.”

I am not sure who long this method would last, but the message is definitely effective.