Thumb Other Way
In our house we have a paci lover and a thumbsucker.
Both little suckers have their pros and cons, but since the paci lover just turned two I think I’ll let him slide for at least another couple of months. However, the thumbsucker needs an intervention because, let’s face it, he’s an addict.
I enter this intervention reluctantly, as I’ve been enabling this little guy and his habit since he popped out of the womb. While other moms, dads, dentists and tooth models might cringe, I find it, shall I say, endearing.
It all started with our first ultrasound in which we not only found out E was indeed a boy, but he was also a thumb lover. I still remember the ultrasound tech giggling when she saw him floating around in there. “Uh oh,” she said. “You have a thumbsucker on your hands.”
Once E was born, we tried {for a millisecond} to introduce a paci, but who are we kidding, we’re lazy parents and when we couldn’t find a paci, we just let him go to town on his thumb.
It’s been five years and with the dawning of kindergarten on the horizon we figured the thumbsucking must come to an end. For me, this a bittersweet endeavor as it is just one more thing that takes him further away from little boy-dom and into big boy-dom. And aren’t our kids growing up too fast anyway?
However, my biggest motivator in the thumb evacuation isn’t the speech impediments, or the buckteeth, it’s the teasing. I couldn’t handle it if he came home from school upset because some kid made fun of him for sucking his thumb.
The first day of kindergarten is only three months away and I need to bite the bullet and start the process.
One of our first strategic moves was to get our preschool teacher onboard the “ban the thumb” program. From now on, if he sucks his thumb at school he needs to stop what he’s doing and go wash his hands. Hopefully, the irritation of having to pause in the middle of playing to wash up will lead to less suckage.
The other more subtle approach was to buy a book on the subject, because if there’s a book about farting and pooping, there has to be a book about thumbsucking. I found it quite by accident at a Borders that was going out of business. It was one of only a dozen books left in the children’s section, but seemed to call to me from the shelf. “You will need me someday,” it yelled. And that someday is now.
The book, appropriately titled “Thumb Love,” takes you on Lulu’s journey of thumb withdrawal. Substitute the thumb for alcohol, cigarettes or caffeine and it could be the “go to” addiction manual.
Specific to thumbsucking are tips like dunking your thumb in something yucky, wearing gloves, or going cold turkey. When I asked E about any of these techniques, he said he will try them in 90 days, which is his way of saying never.
I’ve asked other moms for advice on the subject and the unanimous vote has been to just let him be. Forego the nasty tasting thumb gunk, forget the odd ball thumb contraptions and just let the boy give it up on his own. It’s like any other addiction, he will only quit when he’s ready.
For now, I feel more sorry for his poor thumb. It suffers from permanent pruning, and hasn’t seen the light of day for almost five years. Your time will come little guy…soon.
Brook Easton is a spunky redhead who resides in Iowa City, Iowa. She met her true love on the internet, and spends her days playing superheroes with their two boys, working full-time, competing in triathlons and writing her heart out on her blog Redhead Reverie.
