(I can’t with him, what a little ham bone)This post was created in partnership with Tom’s of Maine. We use their silly strawberry natural kids toothpaste morning and night and my kids love it. I only post about brands I truly love, and use in my daily life…
Bedtime is when we are supposed to lay low, be quiet and dim the lights, but our night time routine looks A LOT longer and a little bit more fun than that. I’ve been wanting to get a post out on how our nights usually go down because it’s something we all go through, and I know I personally love hearing how other families prepare their little ones for zzz’s, so here is our story for ya…
We either eat dinner together as a family or after the kids go to sleep, all depending on when the big man gets home from work. Regardless, we start getting ready with a quick dance party in our kitchen. Once dinner is done, the kids are up from the table and I’m procrastinating doing dishes so we turn up the volume and get allll the energy out. We have SO much fun dancing with our kids, it’s my favorite time of day. We all act really silly, work on our moves (Grace is currently loving crawling under our legs and Brian’s trying out break-dancing), it’s kind of wild but we all love it and it’s the happiest I think everyone is all day 🙂
Once we’re a couple songs in, and Brian and I are out of breath, we turn off the music and literally march upstairs, “march, march, march, march”… We head straight into the bathroom and to the bath. We give the kids a bath together every night and sometimes is drawn out process where we let them have their time in there, and sometimes it’s quick and straight to the point.
Once bath is done, we dry off, get into our PJ’s and start brushing our teeth. Brushing their teeth has never really been a problem. We brush with Tom’s of Maine Silly Strawberry, which is the #1 natural kids tooth paste made for kids ages 2-6 using natural ingredients with real strawberry extract and no artificial flavors, dyes or sweeteners. With something I’m putting in my kids mouths every morning and night, I know I can trust Tom’s of Maine.
There also happens to be a little jingle on youtube, timed for tooth-brushing that we play while Brian and Grace are brushing. We dance around really silly to the song while Brian and Grace and they look forward to seeing us act crazy, it makes them look forward to brushing.
The “Silly Brushing Song” is a fun tool for parents that Tom’s of Maine created in partnership with legendary children’s singer/songwriter Laurie Berkner to help get kids brushing for a full two minutes, twice a day as recommended by the American Dental Association. See below for the full song!!
Once we are done with brushing, we take them into their rooms and read some stories. We try and limit this to two-three books, tuck them in, kiss them goodnight and lights out. I am currently in the habit of laying with Brian in his bed for “two minutes” snuggling him which is my other favorite part of the day. It’s a sweet intimate moment we share and I know some people might say it’s bad to make him rely on it, I don’t really care, it feels good for both of us and it’s love. Grace is still in a crib so I can’t lay with her…yet.
2017 marks the 25th the anniversary of Tom’s of Maine Silly Strawberry Toothpaste.
Silly Strawberry (the kind Brian and Grace use) is made for kids ages 2-6 with natural, great-tasting ingredients including real strawberry extract and other natural flavors and uses no artificial flavors, dyes or sweeteners. It’s the first and only natural kids toothpaste to receive the American Dental Association’s Seal of Acceptance. They do not do any animal testing or include any animal ingredients and it’s available in both fluoride and fluoride-free!
This is our bedtime routine. Please share what special things you do during bedtime in the comments!
