Done Deal

It's been more than two weeks since we started putting the yucky-tasting Hoof polish on Allison's thumbs to help her stop sucking her thumb. I've been suspicious from the beginning as to whether she was really stopping or not.

This probably comes from all the sneakiness I perpetrated against my own parents in their quest to stop my thumb-sucking days. I can't remember all they tried, but I vividly recall having hot sauce coated on my thumbs so the burning taste would make me stop. I can also remember going to the bathroom as soon as the folks weren't watching and washing my thumbs as best I could, then sucking away. It would burn for the first minute, but it was still worth it to me.

The nail in the coffin for me, though, was when my mom read a story out of a German newspaper, telling about a man in his 30's who still sucked his thumb, and his wife divorced him over it. Cold turkey was my motto then, and I never sucked my thumb again.

Still, we've not caught Allison since we started this. And there have been several nights during that time that she's awakened me after having a nightmare. (I don't let the kids climb in our bed unless it's close to morning. It just makes for bad rest for the duration, and Bruce has to get up in the morning for work. Instead, I climb in their beds and usually wake up a couple hours later to go back to our room.) I thought if Allison were going to suck her thumb on the sly, she'd be more likely to do it when she's half-conscious and seeking some comfort from a bad dream. But she never did.

Last night we celebrated by going to O'Charley's again. Same place we celebrated Spencer's liberation from the cloth a few weeks ago. We don't eat out often, but when we do, we tend to go to places that work well with the kids. Unless it's date night.

We're still painting Hoof on Allison's thumbs, but not as diligently as we were when we started. I persist largely because the instructions on the bottle suggest continuing for three months to be sure the habit is truly kicked.

She's pretty proud of herself. We are, too. Just one more hurdle overcome before they start kindergarten in the fall.