Thumbs Down

All three boys sucked their thumb from early infancy. Ben was the only one to give it up at two years old, go figure. Logan is five and sucking away. We have tried over the past few years to help him give up the habit.

With the start of Kindergarten and being around older kids, we counted on peer pressure to end the habit. We mentioned to Logan that his friends would make fun of him. Later that day, I heard Logan asking a friend if he minded the thumb sucking. His friend shrugged, and said, "I don't mind." Well that was the end of that idea.

At the dentist recently, I asked him to talk with Logan about thumb sucking. Logan shared his reasons for thumb sucking - it makes his mouth feel good. He suggested to Logan that he find another way to get to that happy place.

Well it seems the $1 Store is that happy place. Each day that Logan does not suck his thumb he can pick from a bag of goodies he chose from the $1 Store. So far it is working. I do think the talk with the dentist along with Logan's readiness was the best way to make this transition.

One mistake I did make in this plan, I did not qualify what types of items Logan could buy at the $1 Store, so we now have an arsenal of plastic semi-automatic guns, swords and daggers for him to choose from.

So now, I have gone from an unsure thumb sucking child to an iron clad warrior ready for battle.