Teeth, Teens, Roosters and Owls

I have always expected my kids to have similar likes and dislikes and similar personalities.  Why not? Same parents, born in the same month, they looked exactly the same when they were born,... (The doctor handed Harrison to me and the first thing I thought was, "Hmmm, you look familiar. I've definitely met you before!")   After the first day, that's where it ended. Their personalities have veered off in different directions since then.

This month's article is here! Enjoy reading ! (BTW, birds don't have teeth. The closest they have to a tooth is something on their beak to help them break out of their egg shell as chicks. I think it's called an egg-tooth? )

Teens, Teeth, Roosters and Owls

Now that my 2 kids are teenagers, I realize that I have a rooster and I have an owl.   

Ever since they were babies, my daughter has preferred to stay up late at night. Putting her to bed has often ended in tears and arguments. As much as she did not like to go to sleep when she should, Mommy always wins so she is in bed with the door closed and the lights shut.  She also prefers to wake up later in the morning. Waking her up in the morning at a normal time is like waking up a dead person. Somehow, she never hears the alarm. It will ring and ring until it turns off by itself. It’s been like that for years. She is my owl.  

My son, on the other hand, has always been one to sleep early. Late in the evening, he will yawn, stretch, take a shower, clean up and brush his teeth, say good night to everyone and go to bed by himself. No arguing, no angry looks from Mommy, it’s that simple with him. In the morning, he will wake up usually before his alarm goes off, getting out of bed cheerfully, he will try to wake everyone else in the family as well. He is my rooster.

There was a research paper done in Sweden that studied teenagers and their rate of developing cavities as it relates to their lifestyle.  They have found that the risk of developing cavities was almost 4 times as high with teenagers who are owls as it was with roosters.  Owls brush their teeth infrequently, tending to skip breakfast and snack more often between meals. Roosters start their day earlier and end their day earlier so they have more time to stick with daily routines like proper brushing at night.

I know that lifestyles can be changed.  When school starts again in September, my rooster child will be ready for school in the morning, brushed up, changed and have eaten breakfast. My owl child will be running out the door with her book bag dangling from her arms, hopefully having eaten something and hopefully not wearing pajamas!

While they are still living at home, I will still enforce good oral hygiene habits but once they are away for college, they will be on their own and hopefully the research will prove to be wrong. I hope both my rooster and my owl will have cavity free teeth for the rest of their lives!