Monday, April 19, 2010

Thumbsucker

Early Saturday morning, Linus was playing in the hallway outside our room while hubs and I attempted to catch a few more minutes of cuddle time. Somehow, while opening and closing the closet door, Linus managed to cut his thumb just below his fingernail and broke out in tears.

Hubby jumped out of bed and began calming him. Figuring the surefire best way to calm any little kid with an ouchie is to put a band-aid on it, Adrian began prepping Linus's thumb. He washed it, doused it in hydrogen peroxide, and pulled out a band-aid.

Immediately upon seeing a band-aid, Linus began screaming, "No, not a band-aid." Somewhat surprised, Adrian explained that he needed a band-aid to help stop the little bit of bleeding it was still doing and to keep it clean. Linus continued to scream in protest.

Wrestling Linus down, Adrian managed to secure a band-aid over the cut and sent him off to me. Still in distress, Linus appealed to me to take it off. With his thumb sticking up, I immediately recognized the problem. He had injured the sucking thumb and was unable to proceed with his usual calming method. Thinking quickly, I suggested he temporarily rely on the other thumb.

Looking at me through moist lashes while tears trickled down his cheeks, Linus whispered, "No, Mommy, this is my special thumb."



5 comments:

Andrea said...

Ohh that is just too sweet! Those crocodile tears kill me...

Anonymous said...

Aw, poor kiddo. I was hospitalized at age four for a severe bout with bronchitis--and I was a thumb sucker. You bet you know which hand they taped down to the bed for the IV. Yep.

Missy said...

That is so sweet!

Miche said...

Awe, poor little guy!

Convertible Girl said...

Wow -- sweet, yet sad. My kids are both pacie-lovers, so we missed out on the thumb.