Abolishing Thumb Sucking, Take 3

Well, it didn't rain on New Year's Eve, which meant fireworks for hours upon hours.  The kids went to bed like normal, and stayed asleep which amazed us because the fireworks were on the street directly next to their windows.  Finally at midnight both Caroline and Henry woke up because it was so ridiculously loud.  We rang in the new year together, watched a bit of the fireworks show, thanked the Lord that it had rained the day before and everything was still damp so our roof wouldn't catch fire, and went to bed.

The morning of January 1st, Josiah, Mr. Washboard Abs himself, decided that he was going to get in shape for 2019.  He ran laps around the house, climbed up and down the stairs, did push-ups, jumping jacks, and burpees.  I was tired just looking at him.  Henry joined in for some of it, too.


For the new year, we are still working on Caroline's thumb sucking.  We've now started wrapping her hand in a sock at night.  Because it makes her hand hot, she holds a small ice pack.  The first night she got out of bed and said she really needed to suck her thumb because she needed a flavor in her mouth.  I told her if she could make it through the month of January we could go to Monkey Joe's.  Every morning she gets to put a sticker on the calendar if she made it through the night without sucking her thumb.  I hope our calendar is full come January 31st.

Flash photography was not appreciated at 10pm

She's actually done better than I expected.  The sock at night, along with the ice pack, seems to work really well.  She even (excitedly) ran to get the ice pack one night in anticipation.  It's during the day that is proving hard.  She keeps telling me how difficult it is to not put it in her mouth.  She also said that she doesn't know what to do now when she's bored.  Before when she was bored, she would suck her thumb and that would cure her boredom.  Now she's just bored.  We have put a bandaid on her thumb during the day to prevent boredom/unconscious/preoccupied sucking.  Caroline has also been milking the process.  Besides Monkey Joe's at the end of the month, she asked for an extra treat every day if she doesn't suck her thumb.  Sure.  We're still trying to get rid of Halloween candy around here, so that was an easy yes.  We'll see what else she has up her sleeve.  She has been going to bed just fine now, which is one hurdle.

We have also instituted new jobs for the new year to help improve parental sanity (namely mine).  After dinner, one child will wipe down the table, one will sweep the floor, and the third will clean the bathroom sink downstairs (because we had to think of a third job).  Jobs rotate weekly.  It has definitely helped me to see most of the crumbs picked up after dinner.  Ideally they'll learn to eat over their plate and prevent some of the mess.  One can be hopeful. 

Ellen's Game of Games has come back on TV.  The kids love it and the ridiculousness of the games.  Usually the contestants have to answer some sort of trivia question.  One person was asked how many teaspoons in a tablespoon.  They guessed 2.  Henry, deadpan, said, "Three.  You need to go back to CC."

The kids have worked on their derby cars for Boys of Iron.  It always seems like a last minute thing to get them painted, so we started early this year.  Josiah wanted to do his in colored pencils and he chose Captain America as his theme.  Actually it was Captain Amrica.  We're working on spelling.

Henry chose solid colors at the moment.  His is taking several days to paint due to different layers of coloring.  We'll get a picture next week.  Caroline got a car this year, too.  She sanded and put primer on it, but hasn't picked out a design just yet.

The kids regaled us with a play about football.  Finally a play Henry could get into.  He'd hike the ball to Josiah and once Josiah threw him the ball, they'd be on opposing teams and Josiah would run to tackle Henry.  Caroline played the part of the mascot, who danced and jumped around the field during the middle of plays.  The vast majority of pictures ended up very blurry.

The kids also messed with the filters on my phone.

It school news, we've been doing botany this year and just before break we learned about photosynthesis.  Our book suggested that we get a plant in every room of our house to clean the air.  So, we took it to heart and bought a sturdy, hard-to-kill plant at Lowes and we've already plucked off two leaves to root for new plants.  The kids have really liked botany and it's been a good study.  I think we've all learned a lot about plants this year.

For church today, the kids wore their uniforms.  Three-piece suit.  Red Izod shirt/khaki shorts/knee socks.  Fancy dress.  (Henry literally wears this outfit every Sunday, no matter what temperature it is outside.  He tells me his socks keep him warm.)

That was our week.  It is hard to believe that Three-Piece-Suit is turning double digits next week!