I sucked my thumb until the age of 8.
Hm, the above statement does not do my former habit justice. Let me try again:
Until I turned 8, I was a thumb-sucking fiend who could not be persuaded to be otherwise despite threats of having my thumb rubbed with fresh jalapeno juice or claims that my teeth would grow in crooked.
Here I am sucking my thumb at the beach.
I also sucked my thumb in the car and at my house and at other people’s houses. However, I am proud to say that I deprived myself of sucking my thumb at school.
Because who really wants to be teased more than necessary at school?
My sister Lisa also sucked her thumb and though we fought like cats and dogs during the day, we would both bond over bedtime thumb-sucking.
By “bond” I mean we would both lie on our beds and suck our thumbs while using our other hand to twirl a lock of hair. Lisa liked to take her lock of hair and brush it across her nose. I preferred sticking my lock of hair into my ear first so that it could get nice and waxy before I brushed it across my nose.
Kids are gross.
Stay away from them.
Especially the thumb-suckers.
One night, my family and I were watching The Newlywed Game where I witnessed one of the biggest acts of betrayal I had EVER seen:
One of the husbands on the show revealed that his wife (they were both about 30 years old) still sucked her thumb.
The poor wife was so embarrassed that she started crying!
In the back of my head, I wondered if I would still be a thumb-sucker by the age of 30.
I secretly hoped I wouldn’t be.
Thanks to Lisa, I never had to find that out. A classmate had invited her to a sleepover and though my sister was excited about the event, she also knew that she had to lose her habit and quick!
Somehow, she did it.
Just quit cold turkey.
No mittens, no jalapenos, nothing!
I, meanwhile, felt a great sense of loss when Lisa stopped sucking her thumb.
Why?
You know those people who only drink or smoke or get high socially? I discovered that I preferred to thumb-suck socially. Without Lisa to partake in the bad habit with me, what was the point?
Jalapeno juice, crooked teeth, backstabbing husbands. These were not strong enough reasons to quit.
But losing my thumb-sucking buddy?
Well, let’s just say that I am almost 30 and have remained thumb-sober for over 22 years.
A side note:
For the record, our teeth never grew in crooked. In fact, I’m thinking the thumb-sucking might have enhanced our dentition.
I also grew to LOVE hot and spicy food.
Go figure.
Love this! My sister-in-law has been trying to get both of her kids to quit. I was never a thumb sucker, but I did twist my hair and pull it out. Consequently, I often had a short haircut bc mom was trying to stop me from ripping all my hair out. She also tried making me wear a shower cap to bed.
(And yes, I still twist my hair occasionally…I just don’t pull it out anymore.)
Haha! A shower cap? That’s hilarious, Kelly! I think I remember you twisting your hair.
One thing is for sure, I remember that you always stuck one foot out from under the blankets. That habit always looked so uncomfortable but now I do it, too! haha
Thumb sober!?!?!?! HA!!!
[...] (unsolicited) comment and advice to me was to just “let him be” and he’d “give it up” when “it was the right time.” (I’m told that can be in the latter teen [...]