THUMBS

My kids never had any interest in their thumbs
they preferred their "bays"
their ninis
their blankets
that was OK with us
however, breaking up with NINI was impossible
with a lot of angst, blood, sweat, and tears.
but we made it past the pacifier stage when Luke was 9 months old
and then...
a year later...
after Brandon's 4th birthday, the unexpected happened!
He came home one day and told us a little boy at nap time sucks his thumb
and he showed us
- see mom, like this!-
at first we didn't know it was going to be a "thing"
it just happened
and at 4?
we let it go for a while
constantly telling him to take his thumb out
At first I was a little embarrassed "I have a thumb sucker"
But not really sure why
lots of kids did
and for Brandon, who has a history of needing things to comfort him
it wasn't THAT unusual I guess
we were successful over the summer, about 2 months after it started
we got that nail bit STOP and put it on his nails
it was horrible, even I tried it.
YUCK
it worked -  for about a month
and then it happened again!
and it hasn't left
right now we have an agreement
only suck your thumb at naptime and bedtime
sometimes listens
sometimes we find him alone sucking his thumb
he finds comfort, it self soothes, he needs it right now
we've asked his therapist and the Dr's if we should be worried
about his teeth, his speech, etc.
they both say to let him grow out of it and it will get better
for now, the war wages on.
Daddy and I are planning and plotting
until next time thumb!