With our children ranging in age from 8 – 18, one would assume that the inquisitions such as, “Are you ready? Did you brush your teeth? Do you have clean socks on today?” would never pass the lips of my mouth again, yet some mothering instincts just don’t die easily.

It took years to establish simple, yet effective, morning and evening routines with the kids. I tried every single trick of the trade to help bridge the gap between their mother nagging and helping assist them in developing good hygiene habits.

For me, it always came back to the basics. Hanging a hygiene checklist on the mirror as a way to help them mentally go down their list of the basic tasks they need to do was my solution.

We’ve created a free “Are you Ready?” hygiene checklist for you to print, and hang in the bathroom. Yes, just a few little reminders that will help your children build up their habits in a positive way.

I’ve left a little space for you to include another habit in between, “Have you brushed your teeth?” and SMILE! In my opinion, smiling is the most important reminder we can give our children.

After they have brushed their teeth, they can show up those clean pearly whites by choosing joy.

A smile makes hearts sing, and if we can instill in our children the extreme importance of sharing a smile with others, it will make a life long difference.

As a child, there is not one picture that you can find with me sporting a wide smile. I wouldn’t show my teeth from the time my permanent teeth came in until I got braces. My teeth were so crooked and they stood in the way of my perfect smile.

Now, our children love to smile, except every once in awhile they are self conscious for any number of reasons. Long ago, I shared my secret of teeth whiting with them – Arm and Hammer Baking Soda. Yes, I still brush my teeth with it to get them nice and white, and now they have tried it too, but they can’t get past not having a fresh taste in their mouth.  It’s just one of the 50 Uses for Baking Soda that I share on another post. I love that stuff.

Our mothering never stops, does it? Hopefully, my Free Printable Kids Bathroom Check List will be a small little step in helping you establish those routines that we need for our kids.