Put a sock on it
Tacy has been caught sucking her thumb again.
J: You’ve got until the count of three to put a sock on your hand.
T: One of Daddy’s stinky socks?
J: No, your own sock will do.
T: Why not Daddy’s stinky sock?
J: Because I’m the nicest mommy in the whole wide world.
T: Um…I think Daddy’s probably a little nicer.
——————————
Operation Anti-Thumbsucking has reached THUMBCON-1.
Kindergarten starts in just over a month. And despite my earlier “we’ll just let peer pressure take its course” bravado, I’m panicking. I don’t want my kid to be the thumbsucker. I want her to be the cute, smart, likeable one.
I won’t even mind if she cries now and then. But lips that touch thumbs shall not be hers, dammit. At least not in front of people.
I don’t give a damn about orthodontia. She’s pre-destined to need braces, much the same as she was pre-destined to have long eyelashes. But I do care about teaching her to be self-aware.
While I never sucked my thumb, I had very little self-awareness. I’d scrunch my nose in order to get my glasses back in place (rather than stop what I was doing to use my hand to adjust them). Speaking of orthodontia, I got braces when I was still fairly young, and my father once took a picture in which I was using my tongue to dislodge a chunk of something from the wires. I looked like an ape.
But worst of all was how my mouth would hang open when I was concentrating. You’ve seen that look on kids who are watching TV, right? Well, that was me. And my parents were horrified by it. Unfortunately, they used some pretty harsh terms to describe how I looked as a means of breaking me of that habit. I know they loved me and wanted me not to look like what they said I looked like, but…OUCH.
In short, I don’t want other kids to hurt my little girl’s feelings, but I don’t want to hurt her feelings either.
On the outside, I’m lighthearted about the thumbsucking, asking her “Tacy, do you need a sock?” and then telling her to get one if I catch her again. Lambie stays in her room during the day, and I keep CJ’s Lambie out of her reach on the days that both girls are home.
But on the inside, I worry. Because there’s only so much that I can do. The rest is up to her.
May 30th, 2007 at 7:16 am
How can kindergarten start in a month!?!? Good luck on the thumb-sucking.
May 30th, 2007 at 7:34 am
Not sure I’m much help. I sucked my thumb till I was about 5 years old, then stopped pretty much on my own. My parents did try to stop me, but that only made me want to do it more. I don’t remember ever being teased about it by kids, though. And that’s something I would remember. Perhaps, if you just keep letting her know it’s not cool, and then kind of let things take their course? Kids can be stubborn. I should know.
I’ll be interested in what happens, though. The Boy is a thumbsucker too. Cute now, but I know it won’t be so cute later.
May 30th, 2007 at 7:59 am
My one twin Melyssa is a thumbsucker and we are trying to get her to stop (she goes to K in the fall), so far whenever we see her with it in we tell her to stop and she does, but as soon as we aren’t looking its back in. Her twin used a pacifer…that was so much easier to get rid of…
May 30th, 2007 at 8:20 am
My sister sucked her thumb until she was 6. Her thumb now literally looks like a big toe. Maybe you could use that as a way to get her to stop. Now one wants a foot for a hand.
May 30th, 2007 at 9:28 am
I sucked my thumb until I was five as well. It’s a classic family story, though. My mom took me to a dental technician at the local tech school for a cleaning, and the lady there told me that I should stop sucking my thumb. So I stopped. Just Like That. So of course, I have no advice for you. Just my sympathy. And I hope she doesn’t end up going to school with socks on her hands.
May 30th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
I never sucked my thumb, but like Cheryl said, sometimes an “outsider” has more influence….my daycare provider’s daughter sucked her thumb and it was her kindergarten teacher that got her to stop. If she doesn’t stop before school starts, try to enlist the help of her teacher. Besides, I’m SURE she won’t be the only one still sucking her thumb. Don’t worry.
May 30th, 2007 at 8:09 pm
Do you have Summer School Kindergarten there? I’m confused!
My oldest doesn’t understand about nose-picking. At least you don’t have that problem.
May 31st, 2007 at 12:21 am
you know, as a grown up daughter of a wonderful mother, i gotta tell you that what you said at the end here will always be true: there’s only so much you can do, and then the rest will be up to her. but you will always be there to share the burdens when you can. ’cause you’re her mom forever.
May 31st, 2007 at 1:46 am
I went to school with a girl that still sucked her thumb in EIGTH GRADE. She was definitely ridiculed, but jeez, who wouldn’t be by 8th grade? Anyway, I’m not a mom, so I have no idea what should or could be done. But to me, it sounds like you have a good plan in action. Oh, did I say hi? I’ve only been reading for a bit so I may have never commented before. If not, hello! If so, hello again!
May 31st, 2007 at 11:26 am
My daughter sucks her thumb so I can totally relate to what you are feeling. I have been waiting for the day she asks me to polish her nails. That is when I start bargaining: no nail polish on sucked thumbs/fingers, etc. Hopefully, that might want her to stop.
I too sucked my thumb until some ungodly age and the nail polish trick worked on me.
May 31st, 2007 at 12:11 pm
The kindergarten thing threw me off a bit, too.
Dawson has never sucked his thumb, he never took to a nuk, but he sure as hell didn’t want to give up his bottle.
I was such a baby about it, thinking I was making him suffer by weaning him.
One day I just took all the bottles away, endured all the tantrums for three days and he turned out fine.
But boy, at the time? I thought I was going to die.
I wish I had advice to give, but I don’t. I’m eager to see what works so I can store that in my brain for future children.
May 31st, 2007 at 3:54 pm
the daddy around here is also a nicer mommy, I’m afraid.
May 31st, 2007 at 4:17 pm
THUMCON-1
ahahahahahaha!
May 31st, 2007 at 5:17 pm
My son sucks his thumb (2yrs old) and I’ve often wondered how long it will last. I can’t imagine ever telling him to stop if it comforts him, even when he’s older, but at the same time, I understand the fear you have of other kids’ being mean and teasing. Tough situation.
May 31st, 2007 at 5:23 pm
C, it’s a lot different when they’re two. It’s still kinda cute then. At five, it makes me cringe.
And to answer the kindie questions – we have year-round school.
June 1st, 2007 at 9:13 am
Ugh, I hear you. We’re working hardcore with Mimi on the same thing. If you find something that works, let me know. (So far we’ve promised her a Disney princess chair she’s coveting if she can quit — hate to resort to bribery, but we’re at the end of our rope.)
June 1st, 2007 at 11:41 am
Stopped by from the Flingers & this struck a cord. I was a thumbsucker & while I stopped doing it in public when I was pretty young, I did it at home until I was 11. I hated it when my family tried to get me to stop – whether it was nicely or making fun of me. I finally stopped when I realized how embarassed I’d be if they found out at school. I was never teased at school b/c I never sucked my thumb there. Not sure how to make her stop but its good that you’re trying not to hurt her feelings. I’d say she’ll stop when she’s ready.
June 2nd, 2007 at 9:03 pm
Ugh, if the sock thing works, let me know because bribery has totally failed us. However, I will say that after we went to K orientation a few weeks ago, Jo proudly announced that she hadn’t sucked her thumb the whole time we were there–and that was without any reminders or prompting either before or after.