Because breathing is important

I'm sure it's typical... but Maddy has a habit of slowly not doing the things she is supposed to do if I stop asking about it.

For example, brushing her teeth. She does fine if every single day I say "Did you brush your teeth?" The answer is yes. Since the answer is always yes I don't feel the need to ask her every day. I think she is doing it. I walk around with my smug assumption that I have impressed upon her the benefits of tooth brushing and that a 7 year old is capable of staying in the habits I've helped her establish.

I'm a fool.

The desire to quietly disobey me is more ingrained then I could ever have imagined. This finally became apparent when I noticed I haven't refilled her asthma medicine in quite awhile. You know... the medicine she needs in order to breathe. It's always during the fall that she has her big annual asthma attack and we spend a long sleepless night in Urgent Care. So with September upon us I've been paying extra attention to her breathing, and therefore to her medicine intake.

I noticed a disturbing trend. She's not taking it. I mean, she's taking it because sometimes I would ask her. Maybe once a day, or once every other day.

"Did you take your medicine?"
"oh I forgot!" and then she would run up and take it.

I didn't realize that this was the only time she was taking it. I don't understand why she decided to stop taking it. It's quick, literally two inhales twice a day. It doesn't taste bad. It doesn't make her feel weird. And the benefits are great.... being able to breathe. There is NO reason not to take it.

Which means she would rather pull one over on me than breathe. And that, my friends,... is what chills me to the bones.