August 2, 2022

I intended to do something to improve my health this week, like “walk,” but on Monday, I just couldn’t bring myself to go out there and do it. Not wanting to start the week off at a loss, I went with “brush teeth every morning” instead. 

I’m sure a lot of you are incredulous that there’s someone out there in middle class suburbia that doesn’t brush their teeth every morning, but I’m here to tell you that there is indeed such a person. Not only do I not always brush my teeth every morning, sometimes I skip entire days. 

I wasn’t always so lax about it. I was raised to brush my teeth without fail every morning and every night. I continued this habit for most of my life, feeling disgusted with myself if I missed even one brushing.

It wasn’t until I had been married for a while that I started getting lazy and missing a night here, a morning there, until it became sort of “optional.” My husband has similar poor brushing habits, so I blame him entirely ;). Now, unfortunately, we’ve passed this on to our daughters, and it’s truly a travesty. 

In recent dental visits, both my husband and I had our first ever cavities. Although I’d love to blame this on living in a city without fluoridated water, it’s clear that we each bear much of the responsibility. 

Such a small, simple thing! Hopefully it will be one of the habits in this program that is easy to uphold.