Submission in Brushing Teeth

My youngest daughter is a sweet little girl, but she does not want to brush her teeth. We don’t know why but she cries when she sees me holding her toothbrush. I’ve showed her different toothbrush songs, bought her a nice toothbrush and her favorite character Minnie on a toothpaste but it still didn’t change her attitude towards brushing her teeth.

My eldest’s teeth, when she was small, all suffered from tooth decay. It was really my fault because there were days that I forgot to brush her teeth. I am avoiding the same thing to happen to our youngest, especially when I saw how my eldest cried when her teeth were aching before and she lost confidence to smile because of her black teeth. When I discovered that partly my youngest daughter’s teeth are starting to decay, I made it a point to brush her teeth everyday. There were days when we didn’t because she slept earlier than expected but whenever possible, we do it.

My husband asked that we don’t brush Katy’s (my youngest) teeth past midnight because her loud cry would disturb our sleeping neighbors. I try to remember as much as I can to brush early but tonight was another night that I forgot. When I remembered I asked help from him because it really takes at least 2 people to hold Katy so we can brush her teeth. He declined. I pushed because we are going out tomorrow early in the morning and I know that we might grab Katy while she still sleeps and bring her in the car and will not be able to brush her teeth then.

My husband conceded after I already put the toothpaste on Katy’s toothbrush. She cried (as usual) but after we brushed her teeth, she vomited a bit. I saw the frustration on my husband’s face. And then my daughter vomited more. More that it was all over her shirt and mine and even on the bed. That’s it. My husband lost his cool. Although he was not speaking tongues to me, he said that’s what I get from not submitting to him.

I was wrong. As a wife, one of my biggest struggle is to submit to my husband. I always insist my way and what happened tonight is God’s way of reminding me that I should learn to submit. I should because submitting to my husband is for my protection. It is also to show that I respect and trust my husband’s leadership.

I am a work in progress and I need the guidance of the Lord to help me finish well. I need to always be reminded of this verse:

Ephesians 5:22-33 “Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.”