Triumphs and Failures Tuesday - Mo' teeth, mo' problems

It's Tuesday once again at the thick and thin, so that means Triumphs and Failures Tuesday! A weekly post where I share a weekly parenting triumph or failure. Please feel free to judge!

See that kid up there in that picture? The kid who absolutely loves brushing his teeth? Understands the point of brushing his teeth? Listens to his parents when they say that the less he struggles to get his teeth brushed the quicker it'll be over with? That is not my kid.

My older son hates brushing his teeth. No rationalizing, no promises, no demands, no begging--nothing I do will get him to brush his teeth. My wife, on the other hand, has better luck, but I'll get to that later.

My failure this week (gah, another failure!) is that I made an ultimatum with X that I followed through with but, while enforcing it, think I could have done it better.

One night, X and I were sitting on the bathroom floor in a standoff, er, sit-off. The past 15 minutes had been filled with me asking X to brush his teeth, explaining to him why, demonstrating how, and attempting to convince him that it would be quick and painless and that he'd get to his bubble bath only afterwards.

"No!" was his answer. "No" to my face. "No" lying on the floor. "No" crying and trying to climb into the tub. "No" in a box, with a fox, in a house, with a mouse. "No" to brushing his teeth here or there or anywhere.

And so we ended up sitting there on the floor. X was looking off into nowhere, seemingly with all the time in the world. And I was starting to get impatient.

So, I did it. "X, if you don't start brushing your teeth in the next 10 seconds, I'm going to come over there and brush them for you."

Problems. The 10 seconds passed, and he did nothing. Did he even understand the concept of time? He can only count to three--how does he know what ten is? I thought, at this point, if I wanted his teeth brushed, I'd have to pin him down. And I couldn't back down from my ultimatum  because then he'd know he could walk all over me.

So, I followed through. I picked him up, sat him on my lap, locked his arms down, and stuck the toothbrush in his mouth when he opened it to cry (I was careful with the toothbrush, gentle brushing and not too far in to make him gag). Though I was able to get what I wanted, I felt horrible. X was screaming, crying, and the look on his face made me feel like I was torturing him.

I didn't want it to be like this. Plus, how was all that something he could learn from? I probably made him hate brushing his teeth with Daddy even more.

It was at this point that Laya walked in to see what all the ruckus was about. I let X go, and he ran over to her. And, with a gentle voice and calming words, she was able to brush his teeth with no hiccups. Toddler whisperer!

How would you have handled the situation? I'd love to know because I don't know how I'd do it differently. Let me know in the comments!