My children and I do regular Special Time most days for at least three minutes. Â Sometimes they choose to work on their challenges during Special Time. Once my three-year-old son tackled his challenge of teeth brushing.
He didn't like brushing his teeth very much and barely let me brush either his upper or lower teeth. One day, he wanted to brush my teeth during Special Time.  “Okay,” I said helplessly.  Then he scooped a lot of xylitol with someone's toothbrush, stuck it in my lopsided mouth, and brushed inside of my mouth in a three-year-old way.
My face was covered with saliva and my shirt was drooled on. Â I groaned and moaned, and my son was laughing. Whenever I caught a break from his rigorous brushing, I begged, “no more!” in vain. Â He would put more rigor into his brushing laughing and really enjoying this role reversal. Â It continued for most of our ten-minute Special Time.
Later, I noticed he was gradually more relaxed about teeth brushing. Â That night, he let me brush both upper and lower teeth. Â After a couple of months now, teeth brushing is no longer an issue.
—Keiko Sato-Perry, Certified Hand in Hand Instructor
You can read more about the Hand in Hand Parenting Tools in the Listening to Children booklet set.