Payment Plan

Habits are routines of behavior that are repeated regularly, tend to occur subconsciously, without directly thinking consciously about them.

They say old habits die hard. They say it takes 2 weeks to form new habits. We're fighting a losing battle against a habit. I say we, I mean Davis. His thumb. When he was a baby, I tried the pacifier thing. No go. The boy wanted his thumb. Thumbs are convenient...we are stuck with them, they are never lost, though most of the time, they are dirty. Carol Denton started trying to help him break this habit when he was in her class at the tender age of 3. No thumb sucking allowed in Mrs. Carol's class. Since then, we've tried many things...punishment, wearing a glove or band aid. They sell soemthing that is suposed to help but I never bought one. I knew he was smart enough to figure out how to get it off. So here we are, almost 8 years old still sucking his thumb. What to do????? One of our friends is a terrific parent educator. When she teaches, she always reminds us that the discipline has to fit the crime. Well, we can't cut thumb off. Hmm....then today it hit me. Money. You've heard of a cuss jar...you know, say a bad word and you must deposit a quarter. Today, I started a thumb jar. Davis likes money....not too much, but enough that this might just work. There are some things (Legos) he would like to buy. So starting today, every time he gets caught with his thumb in his mouth, he pays a quarter. Now, I am nice and I know him so I figure this part won't cost much more than what he deposits. At the end of the day, if he has not been caught, I will pay him a dollar.

I'll keep you updated with his progress!