Pokey Earrings

I can't remember exactly when I made the deal with Reba, but it was my last resort to get her to stop sucking her thumb.  I told her that if she could go 30 days without sucking her thumb, she could have "pokey earrings."  She had asked multiple times when she could get pokey earrings like some of the other girls in her class.  Doug and I talked and though this would be a great challenge for her.  I made a chart and hung it on the closet door in the hallway.  Each day she went without her thumb in her mouth earned her a sticker.  In the beginning we had to start over every 5-6 days, then we went a week or more of not adding stickers because she "didn't care about pokey earrings", and then she had a great run only to have to start over after 14 days...

As we entered April, I reminded Reba that she had time to go 30 days of not sucking her thumb and enough time after that she would be able to change her earrings for Aunt Katie's wedding.  We again, had a few hiccups, and it got to the point that if she buckled down, she could still get them done before the wedding.

I'm proud to say that Little Miss hit day 30 on Wednesday (the day we drove out to Iowa)!  I had told her before we left that if she made the trip successfully, that we could have a girls night with Aunt Katie, Aunt Lisa, and Ma-maw and get her ears pierced.  So ... in conjunction with our night out getting our nails, we made a stop by the mall first.

I let her pick out which earrings she wanted - that girl has good taste!  She picked a teal-green flower, so she would have a bit of sparkle for the wedding.

Waiting patiently while Momma filled out the papers.

Sitting still while drawing the dots where the earrings would go

There was only one gal in the store that night, so she could only do one ear at a time.  She said typically they like to do both ears at the same time, but Little Miss was brave and handled the sting like a champ!

She wiped her eyes a time or two, but a tear never rolled down her face.  Momma cried more than she did!  I was just so proud of her (and I blame pregnancy hormones) :)

She even got to pick out a stuffed animal for being so great!

Until next time...