I think it’s because of what brushing her teeth represents. She knows that brushing her teeth is a prelude to bed time. If she can hold off brushing her teeth, she can hold off going to bed. Or, that seems to be the issue with my 6 year old (the 2 year old still thinks brushing her teeth is fun). I’ve begun having her…

I did the same thing! I even wet the toothbrush because my mother would sometimes check. I spent nearly as much time making it look like I’d brushed as it would have taken to brush.

Seriously with the tooth brushing!  My 5-year old nephew was sleeping over a couple weeks ago, bedtime rolls around and I’m like “Ok kids, time to go brush your teeth” and he, with a straight goddamn face, tells me “My mom says I don’t have to brush my teeth”.  I just lauphed and politely told him I didn’t give a shit.

It’s not about the teeth, it’s about the power that comes with the deceit 

As a dumb child, I decided I did not like tooth brushes and convinced my parents to let me use a wash cloth or simple rinse my teeth. And they allowed me to do this!For years!

The trick i’ve found works best in these situations is to combat their gaslighting by pulling another tool out of the foxnews box O’ mindcontrol kit... irrational fearmongering.

I no longer ask my children (11 and 13) if they’ve brushed their teeth. I’ve developed some sort of mystical dad knowledge about whether they’ve actually done so, based solely on their movements to and from the upstairs bathroom, which I pay only casual attention to.

What the fuck is it with kids and brushing teeth? You tell my niece to go brush her teeth before bed and a fucking meltdown ensues, as if she is not told/expected to do this every goddam night.

I feel like this is a supervillain origin story.

The other day my wife was still in bed and I was almost done brushing and I realized I was using her toothbrush.

Why would we have to convince him that he did something everyone already knows he did?

When I was little, I would rub a small amount of toothpaste on my tongue to beat the breath smell test, and it worked. There were layers and thought put into the lie.

I swear to god, my daughter and I got into an argument about the Ninja Turtles.
Me: eat your pizza. The Ninja Turtles love pizza.
Kid: No. They eat flies.
Me: haha...No. They eat pizza. It’s they’re favorite.
Kid: No, daddy. They’re turtles they eat flies. (note: the fuck?)
Me: *gets phone* *Googles Ninja Turtles+Pizza*…

Yeah, when I saw she was in her first year at a top MATH PhD program, I wondered about this...sounds like she was immensely talented, and it takes a very high achiever to accomplish what she did by the age of 23. PhD programs can really exacerbate existing mental health issues, especially in the first year, when…

Such a loss, and so sad. From this SF Gate story, it seems like she was so good at so many things:

he’s afraid that a girl will beat him

I don’t want to treat a young lady like that on the mat. Or off the mat. And not to disrespect the heart or the effort that she’s put in. That’s not what I want to do, either.

My initial thought was that he didn’t want to accidentally touch/grab her in an inappropriate place, and making them both uncomfortable, which would make sense. Until he said this:

This story proves, without a shadow of a doubt, the futility of arguing with hardcore anti-vaxxers. If almost losing a child, something I fear much more than dying myself, isn’t enough to shake these people, nothing will. Bet the medical staff treating this poor child had to restrain themselves.

I am so sad. Pre-teen me loved reruns of 90210 and the x files. Dylan Mckay and Fox Mulder were my misunderstood dreamboats. So seriously bummed.