Apr 6, 2011

Color color what color

Economically it works best to buy a pack of toothbrush rather than buying them individually. A pack of 12 normally comes with four repeating colors but we are a family of five; which means that at least two of us will end up using the same color.

We take care to mark them apart with our initials or tie a rubberband around it or something of that sort. But that is not always a foolproof method as the initials are erased off with use or the rubber bands get removed or exchanged that soon we lose track of whose is which.

This was never a problem before when kids had their favorite character toothbrush. Joshua's would be a Spider man or Bats man or Elmo. The girls would pick Barbie or Dora the Explorer or Winnie the Pooh. However now that they are bigger they have started using adult size regular medium bristle toothbrush which is the cause of this seemingly never ending chaos around the house.

To make matters worse I normally maintain three sets of toothbrush - one in all bath rooms - thinking it would be easy for the kids to grab hold of one that is closeby. Not only that, as one of ours gets worn out, we grab a new color from the lot which could be already rotating among the rest of the family members. This only makes it more confusing to decide which is whose. Saturday mornings the regular conversation goes like this: (as other days I hand them their toothbrush when they are in the shower)
Rachel: "Who used the red tooth brush?"
Sharon: "Why? I did; it's mine"
Rachel: "No; it is not. The red upstairs is yours; this is mine"
Sharon: "No! This is mine; ask Mommy"
Two in unison: "Mommy, whose is the red tooth brush downstairs?"
Mommy: "Downstairs? Red? That's Joshua's"
Three in unison: "Mommmmmmmyyyyyyy....!!!!"
Mommy: "Okay, let me go over the colors once again. The red one upstairs is Sharon's; the red downstairs is Joshua's. One in the basement without the rubberband is Rachel's and with is mine. But don't forget the red with three lines on it that almost looks new - that is Daddy's; he got it from the dentist last time and so it looks different from ours; okay? Is this now clear?"
Ask me to repeat it, I might get this mixed up myself. I have absolutely no idea how to resolve this problem once for all. Any ideas will help...

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I felt that you read my mind..I have the same problem. Hope some one helps us...

Jacinth said...

We say "Brush the Art",right!, now... Encourge the kids to "Art the Brush" with Permanent markers and with their own art. This would resolve the pb.

Always Happy said...

Hey NRIGirl,

Hope you are well.

Haha..toothbrush chaos! This seems to be a very complicated issue. May be each of you should keep your toothbrush seperately in your personal space (wardrobe, shelf etc) and pick it up from there everytime you brush your teeth and then put it back in the same place. Keeping them all together in one place will only lead to situation like what happened on Saturday.

Cheers
Always Happy

raji said...

never ending problem..:))having diff colors seems to be the only solution

Irfanuddin said...

hahaa,,,,totally enjoyed it.........:)

BTW having different colors or the make is perhaps the only way out...more over most of the ppl coming over here are going to say that its their story bcoz one way or other it must be happening with every one.

Anonymous said...

I will go for Jacinth's way. So from now onwards it will be " Art the brush" week at my home.. Thank you @ Jacinth and @ NRIGirl.

raji said...

Hi Hephzibah ,One small award for u waiting at my blog please collect.

Bikram said...

write it on a paper and put it above the Brush holder :) ...

Or tell the kiddies to decide on one color and they use the same upstairs - downstairs ..

Or better still Get different holders these days you cna have their name written :)


Bikram's

NRIGirl said...

Thank you all for the valuable input.

Of all 'Art the Brush' seems to be creative as we can still get away with buying the economy pack. Let's see what more options are coming...

@Raji! Thank you so much. I did visit your blog even before seeing this notice and was pleasantly surprised to know you have awarded Coffee with Jesus. Thank you once again.

NRIGirl said...

Just saw Bikram's comment. Seems to be a good idea too; may be I should get the holder that sticks to the wall to avoid clutter on the counter top...

Amrit said...

Usually I charge money for these kind of suggestion, so I will send the bill.

1. Disregard the color. Put one band for youngest one, two bands for middle, three bands for eldest.

Y L said...

to each one color

dr.antony said...

I have faced the same problem.My wife keeps many of those brushes in the holder and I get confused.Every now and then I call her,she will come and check,and then hand me one saying 'this is yours'.I trust her!
Being a doctor,I would recommend to use some kind of tags.Never share personal toiletries,however close you are.

Punam said...

Funny situation that is! :)
Kids!! I agree with Dr Antony.. about not sharing personal toiletries.
To identify them, you could just write their names/initials on the brush handle with a permanent marker. Or you could ask them to draw their fave character on the handle. :)

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