Day 529 - Poll Results & New Poll

Last week, I asked whether or not I should make Emma and Andrew a cardboard house. The results were overwhelmingly in favor of me using my valuable free time to make a cardboard house that will be torn down in a few short minutes. Thirty-nine percent thought I should make a cardboard house that's better than the house that our friend, Joyce, made for her daughter. Thirty percent thought I should make a house, but who cares if it's better than fancy-schmancy/show-off Joyce's. Then seventeen percent thought I should toss the kids a couple of used banker boxes, and only thirteen percent thought I shouldn't make one at all.

So I guess I'll gather a few cardboard boxes and put something together for the kids; when it's done I'll post some pictures. I'm not too sure what supplies I'll need, but I assume I'll need a few large boxes, tape, staples, nails, and large shards of glass to keep the walls together. And to trump Arrogant Joyce's foo-foo house, I'm going to install a working gas stove and a 50 gallon water heater. Suck it, Joyce!

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Emma and Andrew have a lot of teeth in their mouths now. Emma has around 13 teeth, and Andrew has 10. Sometimes I forget what they used to look like without any teeth, but when Lisa puts her dentures away before she goes to sleep all of those cute memories come rushing back.

Since the kids have more teeth, brushing them has slowly become a bigger struggle. When the kids only had a few front teeth, it would only take a moment to brush. But with all of these teeth appearing, what once took a few seconds to clean seems like an eternity. It reminds me of when my showers took longer because I had to shampoo and condition my back hair.

As adults, I know you should spend about two minutes to brush your teeth. But do you also do this with toddlers? I know Lisa and I will be lucky if we can spend 30-40 seconds brushing the kids' teeth. So the question I ask this week is whether or not we're spending enough time with oral hygiene. Is under a minute okay? Do we have to do two minutes? Or do we just say screw it because all of these baby teeth are going to fall out anyways?