Brushing is No Fun!

Srividhya Venkat

When Rohan woke up, he began to play with Jimmy, his dog.
“There’s something you should do first!” said Riya, his big sister. “BRUSH YOUR TEETH!”
WOOF!

“I don’t want to brush my teeth! Jimmy doesn’t brush his teeth!”
“Animals take care of their teeth too, but in other ways! We must brush our teeth to keep germs away!”
“Germs?”
“Germs are very tiny creatures that you cannot see. If you don’t brush properly, they stay in your mouth and hurt you!”
“Ouch!”
“YES! That’s why we must take good care of our teeth by brushing twice a day - morning and night!”
“But brushing is no fun!”
“I’ll tell you a secret, Rohan! Psst…” Rohan smiled.

Mummy called out, “It’s breakfast time!”
“There’s something we should do first!” said Riya. “WASH OUR HANDS!”
WOOF!

“But Jimmy never washes his hands!”
Riya laughed, “He doesn’t use his hands or paws to eat like we do! We must wash our hands with soap to get rid of germs.”
“Are germs on our hands too?”
“Germs are EVERYWHERE!”
WOOF!
“Aaaah-chhhooo!” Riya covered her mouth with her hands as she sneezed.
“Don't do that! My teacher says that we should sneeze into our sleeve, not our hands!" said Rohan.
“Why?”
“Because when we sneeze into our hands, germs stick to them. If we don’t wash our hands, we spread germs and make others sick!”

“Here comes Germy!” Riya shouted, chasing Rohan and waving her
dirty hands.
“EEEEEEEK!”
WOOF!

Later Riya showed Rohan the proper way to wash hands.
“Wet your hands and turn off the tap. Then rub in some soap on the palms, the back of the hands and between the fingers. Scrub hands for twenty seconds! Now, it’s time to rinse off and dry!”
“But that’s a long time!”
“Remember my secret?”
Rohan smiled.

When they came back home after playing, Riya nudged Rohan, “There’s something we should do first!”
Mummy teased, “Play some more?”
“TAKE A BATH!”
“Mummy, don’t you know that germs are everywhere? We can’t see them, but they stick to our skin and clothes!”
“That’s why we must bathe every day…”
“…to get rid of them!”

"Start by getting yourself wet,” said Mummy. “Then apply soap all over!”
Riya and Rohan giggled as Mummy’s ticklish fingers soaped them up.
“Then it’s time to rinse off!”
“And dry with a clean towel!”
“SUPERCLEAN!”
WOOF!
“It’s Jimmy’s turn next!”

“Do you want to listen to a story?” asked Papa.

“There’s something we should do first!” reminded Riya. “Tidy UP!”
Rohan yawned. “Do we have to?”
“Remember you couldn’t find your ball the other day? Putting things away in the proper place makes it easy to find them later!”
“And keeps our house neat!”
“You both are so smart!” said Papa proudly. “Bedtime!”
“Papa! There’s something we should do first!” said Riya, pulling Rohan along.
“Make the germs disappear with our magic secret!”
Rohan nodded.

A few minutes later, Mummy and Papa heard a familiar tune.
“So that’s your secret!” said Papa. “Humming a song to make brushing fun!”
“And while washing our hands too!”
“That’s a great idea!” said Mummy.
WOOF!
Rohan and Riya enjoy taking care of themselves. Do you?
They make up a game with the germs and guess who wins?

Germs say, yucky, mucky and dirty is FUN!
I say, I brush and wash and I know I have won!
Germs say, never bathe, it’s a waste of time!
I say, smelling nice with soap is so fine.
Naughty germ says don’t pick up your things,
The house looks better that way.
I say, I tidy up because I like my things
That is a good way to end my day!
And I feel better in every way
I feel better in every way!
I FEEL BETTER IN EVERY WAY!!!!!
Now make up your secret song and hum it
when you have to do boring things!