I’ve told you all about Anna’s sphere-a-phelia.  Well, we recently discovered that sometimes one’s greatest affliction can become a source of great strength.  Through the power of the sphere, Anna has now cured herself of another (more socially stigmatizing) addiction:  thumb sucking!

It’s an AMAZING accomplishment and even though she’s been completely cured for a week or two now, it’s still a little hard for me to believe she is completely rehabilitated.

When Anna was an infant I remember how delighted we were (as newly sleep-deprived parents) when she "found her thumb" and used it to soothe herself to sleep.  It was a wonderful pacifier that was permanently attached to her person–no sterilization or midnight-runs to Baby’s R Us required.

But as the years went by (2, 3, 4, etc.) and her thumb became more permanently entrenched inside her mouth, we started to worry a bit.  Especially, when she was able to articulate her own frustration with this digit sucking compulsion.

"I just can’t stop!" she would whine when we would ask here when she was going to stop sucking her thumb…

So we made bargains, suggestions, and 5 year-plans to help Anna in this process.  I suggested she sit on her hands while watching TV.  Christa was more creative; she used Band-Aids as a deterrent and Disney Land as bribery.  The Disney Land idea always sounded good to Anna.  She would get really excited and tell us she would NEVER suck her thumb again, only to backslide on that vow an hour later without thinking.

Meanwhile, I was having fearful flash-forwards of Anna being interviewed on her generation’s version of Jerry Springer talking about why she thinks it’s perfectly normal for 35 year-old working moms to suck their thumbs if they want to.  (Cold sweat.)

But then, when things looked the bleakest….a EUREKA moment struck!  I’m not sure where the idea came from (I’m sure someone will tell me) but at some point the "ball dropped" (literally).

We realized we could use Anna’s love for spherical objects to help her stop sucking her thumb.  While in America, Christa bought a large box full of colorful marbles of all sizes.  She told Anna that every day that she could go without sucking her thumb Anna would get 2 marbles to put into a jar.  Once the jar was full Anna would get the WHOLE BOX of marbles.  It was a true stroke of genius.

So Anna geared up and started to stop sucking her thumb.  It wasn’t an easy road.  Hard-core thumb junkies are difficult to cure (I’m speaking from my own experience here).  But Anna was committed to getting those marbles no matter what the cost.  We reminded her often and she caught herself quite a few times in that midpoint hitchhiker pose.  At night Christa would bandage up or put tape on Anna’s thumbs since sleep was also an enemy of this process.

It wasn’t long before the subconscious act became conscious.  I would see Anna stare down her thumb like a chain smoker holding a pack of cigarettes only to throw them into a trash can a moment later.  As the marbles piled up in Anna’s jar, we waited with baited breath.  Would it stick?  Could this actually work?  What about on car rides, at school, and when Anna was in front of the TV?  Was the power of the sphere able to surmount the power of the thumb?

And after a week or so of accruing marbles, we knew Anna was cured.  Christa knew it had worked after monitoring Anna after she went to sleep at night.  Night after night Christa would check to see where Anna’s thumb was.  In the past her thumb was either in her mouth or pointed in that direction.  But now, post-sphere therapy, Anna’s hand was always flat and laid gently on her pillow with her cheek resting on it.  How angelic.

She got the marbles alright.  The whole box.  (Cheesy Dad that I am, I often warn her not to LOSE them…)  We even had a "commencement / award ceremony" with speeches and congratulations.  There were thunderous applause from the crowd.  Christa’s been pricing tickets to Disney Land Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, Anna no longer seems tempted to suck her thumb.  We still ask at times, now that she is an official pre-K and out of our sight for a few hours every day.  But it seems she is really cured.

The strange thing is:  she also seems less interested in spheres these days.  The coveted marbles she was awarded often sit unnoticed on the bookshelf.  It’s very odd.  Could it be we inadvertently killed two birds with one stone?  That remains to be seen.  Either way, the power of the sphere is something we can deal with.

The power of the sphere is our friend.

Congrats, Anna!  We’re very proud of you, kiddo.  You’re growing up fast.  (Now could you please help us with Sarah’s potty training issues??)