Traveling with Boys and Toothbrushes

Traveling with boys can be interesting.

This morning, I reminded M (8) to brush his teeth after breakfast (which is a reminder I give nearly every day for reasons which will soon be obvious).

An hour later, when I returned from my run, I asked him if he had brushed his teeth. He looked rather guilty of skipping the task. "I couldn't," he explained.

"Why not?" I queried.

"Because I can't find my toothbrush."

Oh yes. Said toothbrush that he believed he had packed in his bag but has been unable to find... since we left VA a week ago. I'm pretty sure this means what we think it means (ahem. No toothbrushing for seven days). I encouraged him to ask Grandma for a new toothbrush. She's awesome and stocks up before we come for this very purpose. We have come on a summer trip before when not ONE of my children packed a toothbrush.

Shortly after this, I saw O (16) heading upstairs, toothbrush in hand. "Someone used my toothbrush!" he said, rather incredulously. (The children have been assigned specifically colored toothbrushes and specific bathrooms that they are to use.)

Apparently, when O went to brush his teeth, he couldn't find his toothbrush. It wasn't in the assigned downstairs bathroom, which only three children were supposed to use for personal grooming. This morning, there was one toothbrush conspicuously absent. He went upstairs to look for the missing toothbrush. On the way, he saw G (5). O asked, "Did you use my toothbrush?"

"No." said G. "I couldn't find mine, so I borrowed Grandpa's."

When O found his toothbrush upstairs, he then brought it back down. Showing it to G, he then asked, "Is this the toothbrush you used?"

"Yes." agreed G. But he didn't TAKE it upstairs; he just USED it upstairs.

After asking around for who was to blame for taking his toothbrush upstairs, O gave up. I heard him mutter, "It's not just that G used my toothbrush. . . it's that two people used my toothbrush and I don't know who the first person was."

And I had to laugh. . . because it didn't stop O from brushing his teeth anyway. These boys!!