Sucky Thumb ... Calm Down Parenting

Why does my blog have out dated family pictures - look to the right. I blame sucky thumb - look to the left. Bennett. Captain Sucky Thumb. When Bennett was in utero and he started looking like more than a gummy bear, we noticed his "photo shoots" had one of two things in common. A) he had his right hand up on his forehead as if to say, "whelp, I'm the last of 4 boys, help me!" B) his thumb was firmly in his mouth. The hand situation proved excruciating for both of us at delivery. He didn't get the "tuck both hands into delivery position with ONLY your head coming out the exit" memo. He arrived into the world head and hand first.

Sucky thumb has changed my life in several ways. There are several titles for an unplanned pregnancy. "Surprise baby, bonus gift, what the hell?" or as his father refers to him, "one shot one kill". Ha. Funny from the guy facing down 4 college tuitions. Sucky thumb came into the world unexpected to say the least. I did the mental math in my head during my pregnancy and realized, "holy crap, this kid will be starting kindergarten the day my oldest starts college...". The oldest went with an early college option, so even better. Now we get to pay exorbitant preschool fees WITH college tuition. Who's laughing now "one shot one kill"?

Sucky thumb has slowed me down. I was just starting to get the hang of three boys when bam! God looked down, giggled, and sent me one more. But, sometimes a force greater than we realize sends us a reality check. Sucky thumb has given me a gift few moms may ever know ... calm down. There is no way I can keep up with family pictures. Wrangling four boys and and an indecisive husband into any photo shoot with everyone still looking reasonably intact ... metaphysical abnormality. Sucky thumb gives me a second chance. A second chance as an "older mom" to stop and smell the roses along the way. I didn't enroll him in preschool in utero, he wasn't potty trained at gunpoint by 2 years of age. He was three ... and a half if we 're being honest. And it was totally okay. Because sucky thumb randomly tells me, "Mom, I wub you". He doesn't have several costume changes throughout the day like his older brother (the first and holy child of all consuming mommy guilt to be the best mommy ever!) to best parenting perfection. He prefers "old man pants" (his sweat pants) and random unmatched assortments of fashionista travesty. And you know what? He's still alive, he's intelligent, and his cookie dough, peanut butter and jelly marked face mocks my parenting fails, but he's happy dammit. Happy. And that's a win in my book.

So to you, dear sucky thumb, as you have reached the ripe old age of four years-old, thank you. Thank you to the power of the universe for sending me that final chance to see magic in your every day. The glimmer of excitement in your eyes that my older eyes have long ignored reminds me to hope every day for a better, kinder, and gentler world for you my dear sucky thumb. Thank you for giving me a final mommy moment to enjoy this journey. Your giant smile every morning reminds me to see joy in the grace of every moment. Love you dear sucky thumb.We'll get family pictures later, for now, let's just enjoy the magic of existence.