Maddie was three years old, with two little pigtails, yellow bows and a stuffed hippo. His name was Pom-Pom. He was lilac and squishy, with two big white teeth. Every night, after bath time, it was time to brush teeth.
And every night, Maddie shut her mouth tight, like a zipper. “Not tonight,” she'd say, shaking her pigtails from side to side. Mom would show her the little green toothbrush with strawberry toothpaste.
“Just for a minute, sweetie. So your teeth can go to bed nice and clean.” But Maddie hid her face in Pom-Pom's soft tummy. “Pom-Pom doesn't want to either,” she'd say. “Pom-Pom doesn't either.”
That night, Mom sat on the edge of the bathtub and waited calmly. Maddie looked at Pom-Pom. Pom-Pom looked back at her with his two big teeth. “Mom, do hippos brush their teeth?”
“Of course they do. They have giant teeth, and they like them nice and shiny.” Maddie thought about it, with one little finger on her chin.
Then she opened the drawer and found an old, soft toothbrush nobody used anymore. “Pom-Pom, open wide,” she said very seriously. “Really wide.” And she brushed his two big teeth, nice and slow: up and down, up and down.
“Now the back,” she explained. “And now the molars. They like to hide.” Mom covered her mouth with her hand so she wouldn't laugh. “All done! Pom-Pom has the cleanest teeth in the whole world.”
And Pom-Pom seemed to smile bigger than ever.
Maddie sat him on the edge of the sink so he could watch. Then she climbed onto her little wooden stool and picked up her green toothbrush. “Look, Pom-Pom. Now it's my turn.”
Mom squeezed out a tiny bit of strawberry toothpaste, no bigger than a pea. Maddie brushed up and down, up and down, just like she did for Pom-Pom. She got a foamy white mustache and giggled so hard she almost wobbled off her stool.
She spat, rinsed with a little sip of water, and smiled at the mirror.
Her teeth sparkled like tiny, freshly washed pearls. “Look, Mom! Just like Pom-Pom's!” “You two are the cleanest team in the house,” said Mom, giving her a strawberry-scented kiss.
Maddie went to bed with Pom-Pom under her arm and a great big smile. Mom turned off the light and tucked them both in under the checkered blanket. Pom-Pom fell asleep first. Maddie followed a moment later, her mouth all fresh and clean.
Goodnight, Maddie…
