As I mentioned before, I have been purchasing some reading material for the Munchkin related to the, ah, upcoming changes he will be experiencing in the next few years.

Along with the other book, I also purchased The Boy’s Body Book.  I skimmed through it briefly before purchasing, and when I was able to sit and read the entire thing, I was pleasantly surprised.

It encompasses not only things like the changes that puberty will be visiting upon him, but also addresses things like needing to take a shower, brushing your teeth, and wearing clean clothes.  There are sections about how to do well in school, tips on how to make new friends, and all sorts of other bonus material.

In short, it is everything I tell him, but written in a book form by someone else.  And thus for some reason, it bears a bit more weight than just being “my opinion.”  Because every eight year old knows that Mom has no clue what she is talking about and just likes to hear herself speak.

This morning before we left the house, I instructed my nine-years-old-in-three-months son to go brush his teeth.  This has long been a source of conflict between us, as for some unknown reason, he dislikes brushing his teeth.  Usually it is a big fight, and even though I always win, it just makes everyone frustrated.  So when he began complaining and asking why he had to brush his teeth, I told him that his book did a great job explaining why he needed to brush, and to go ahead and do it.  That stopped him in his tracks.  He acknowledged that the book did indeed explain very well why he needed to brush his teeth, and he promptly went and did so without another word.

Dude.

I would have paid EVEN MORE for that book if I’d known it would make my life THAT easy.