Fingers Have Vanished

Haddon is 3.5 years old and since he turned 1 we have been trying to guide him to stop sucking his fingers (not thumb:) Sometimes it was more than guidance, it was sheer pestering (especially from his older brother). Brian gave up some time ago, but Corban has been persistent on this mission b/c the sound of a squeaking mouse on fingers annoys his bionic ears:)

Haddon has been asking me for a Ben10 watch for his next birthday. Even though the boys don't watch the Ben10 cartoon somehow they have become mesmerized with the corresponding toys. Since Haddon's birthday is still 6 months away I came up with a motivation strategy to try to get the finger sucking habit to go away. I told him if he didn't suck his fingers for a week he could get one. I don't normally bribe my kids for things they should be doing anyway, but when it comes to potty training and now finger sucking I do what has to be done:D When I told Brian of the plan he didn't seem so impressed--he predicted, like any other addict, Haddon would be overcome by the thoughtless habit and forget about the prize.

And Corban also had part of the deal, one, because you can't buy one brother a watch without buying the other--or atleast without constant fighting over it--and two, because most of my incentive for offering this prize was to stop hearing Corban saying repeatedly "Noooooooo Feen-gurrrrssss!" to Haddon all day long:) So they both had to live up to the deal to get their prize.

Well whatya know...it worked!!!! Haddon has been finger-free for 11 days now and Corban hasn't had to say a word!! Amazing. Habit broken. I am so proud of Haddon. He resisted his security blanket for the reward of owning a Ben10 watch (that incidentally broke after about 30 minutes of opening the package, but still looks cool on his arm:). If we would have only tried this sooner:) I didn't have a camera to document the Ben10 watch ceremony but you can see the picture above to get the idea.

Go Haddon....Go Ben10!