Singing the praises of Tooth Tunes

How do you get your kids to brush their teeth for the right amount of time? My kids can barely stand still for 2 seconds, let alone 2 minutes. Here are some ways we've tried:

* Use an hourglass timer. We had one but keep losing it because the kids take it out of the bathroom to play with it.

* Use an egg timer or a watch. Booooring.

* Use an electric toothbrush with a timer in it, like Philip's Sonicare. Booooring.

* Count to 120 or sing Happy Birthday 10 times. Tedious -- which means I always rush through it, making it inaccurate as well.

Enter ToothTunes, the musical toothbrush that plays fun kids' tunes for the recommended 2 minutes. What a great idea! 3Po and Jammy, my two Tooth Tunes testers (how's that for a tongue twister), really look forward to brushing their teeth and listening to the music the whole time. I don't have to time them or nag them to keep brushing, keep brushing . And I like that they make different ToothTunes brushes with different tunes so kids can choose the ones they like best. They even have ToothTunes Junior for preschoolers and Turbo ToothTunes for older kids.



The only problem is that much as the kids enjoy it, you're essentially getting just another timer for $9.99 -- and a disposable one at that. I do wish Tooth Tunes had made their toothbrush electric -- imagine a Philips Sonicare that plays music and spins its bristles and stops everything after 2 minutes. The combination of timed music and timed electric brush head would be unbeatable!