Operation THUM

Thumbs

Oh the thumb-sucker's thumb
May look wrinkled and wet
And withered, and white as the snow,
But the taste of a thumb
Is the sweetest taste yet
(As only we thumb-suckers know).

-Shel Silverstein
Where the Sidewalk Ends 30th Anniversary Special Edition
page 68

One fine Sunday afternoon I was fixing the kids some lunch after their baths, but before church. I turned around to see them waiting. It was definitely a Kodak moment, undies showing and all. Two and a half years later, I still find them sucking their thumbs.

It was awesome when they were babies. No searching for paci's in the bottom of the diaper bag, down the couch or behind the crib; nothing to sterilize if they accidentally dropped it on the floor at the Wal-Mart, because their soother of choice was permanently attached.

This is LadyBug at four months. Isn't she the most adorably chubby baby ever? And she was an excellent sleeper. I attribute this to the fact that she sucked her thumb from the word, 'go.'

It was even kind of cute when they were toddlers.

Grasshopper is two and a half here. He was such a mischievous little monkey. He didn't start sucking his thumb until he learned how to pull his paci out but couldn't put it back in at about three months. Notice that they both suck their left thumb? I wonder if that is hereditary or preferential? I guess we won't know until they have kids because Mr. Bug and I never sucked our thumbs.

In the first picture they are eight and six. It was long past cute at that point even though that picture is absolutely priceless.

The trouble with thumb sucking is that you can't snip the end off it or give it away to a new baby who 'needs' it like with a paci because it is always attached and available for sucking. I thought they'd grow out of it eventually, but that doesn't seem to be happening. We've made many attempts to curb the thumb sucking, but never with any measure of success because as soon as Mr. Bug or I wasn't around to see them, they'd pop their thumbs right back in.

So today begins Operation THUM. Mr. Bug and I are taking the hard line. This 2 oz. bottle of liquid evil holds the key to thumb-sucking eradication. Henceforth, there will be a zero tolerance policy via THUM for thumb-suckers. Application twice a day to the offending thumbs (and their cooperatives for good measure) and the thumb-sucking will cease. Until they discover that if they wash their hands the nasty taste comes off.