Me and My Thumbie

Below is a preview of Me and My Thumbie, the next book of my "Monkey See, Monkey Do" series. Hopefully, I will get this book published soon so my 3-year-old will stop sucking her thumb.

Me and My Thumbie

My thumbie and I stick together. 

It keeps me safe and I feel better.
I’m not ready to give it up yet.
We’ve been through a lot, don’t forget.

When I was born, I yelled so loud.
That made my parents very proud.
The nurse wrapped me up so tight.
My thumbie was nowhere in sight.

Being next to mommy keeps me safe.
There’d be no reason to be afraid.
When my mommy isn’t near,
My thumbie is there to calm my fears.

When I fall and scrape my knee,
Fall off my trike or stung by a bee,
Or when the barber cuts my hair,
My thumbie calms me down anywhere.

When I’m afraid to try something new –
Using the potty or tying my shoes;
Or meeting new people I don’t know,
My thumbie helps me wherever I go.

Now that I’m older, I’m starting to see.
Sucking my thumb is bad for me.
Germs go in my mouth from my thumb.
Getting sick is never fun.

Kids tease me when I suck my thumb.
My baby days are over and done.
If I don’t stop, my teeth will look bad.
That would make me very sad.

Stuck to me like a shadow to the ground,
My thumbie is always around.
It keeps me safe with whatever we do.
We play, read, and sleep together, too.

Now I don’t need my thumb to sleep.
I have my teddy bear that I keep.
I like being as busy as a bee,
And having both of my hands free.

If I’m sleepy, I’ll find my blankie.
When I’m thirsty, I’ll find my sippy.
If I’m bored, I’ll find something fun.
Thumbs up for not sucking my thumb!

– Mimi Hoang Kuehn

Tips to make the transition to full day of school less trying

For kindergarteners who are going to school for the full day for the first time, that is a big milestone, especially for a child who has only gone to school for a half day, every other day, or has never been in daycare. That was my middle child, who had only gone to preschool every other day at the most and only for three hours at a time, and who has never been in daycare. As predicted, he was having a difficult time adjusting to full day kindergarten, and was frequently crying, complaining and throwing tantrums about going to school for a full day. He said he gets too tired for being in school all day, doesn't get a chance to play with his toys, and misses me. The extra hugs and kisses before and after school weren't enough to ease him into this new routine. I was ready to switch him to half day, that is until I did the following things.

Talk to teacher about concerns. My son was going into day four of hating school and crying or complaining about going to school from the time he gets up to the time I drop him off at school. When I pick him up, he'd say he had a good day at school but immediately says he doesn't want to go back and says he hates school. I decided to call his teacher to express my concerns and tell her that I was going to switch him to half day. I explained to her that my son was used to having his downtime where he gets to play by himself at home, was used to being home with me during preschool, and complained that he gets too tired at school. After talking to his teacher, she asked that I give my son two weeks of full-day kindergarten and said she'd get the school psychologist for her opinion. The psychologist agreed with the teacher to give it two weeks because my son wasn't disruptive nor cry during class. My son's teacher added that she never has had a student change from full day to half day in her 14 years of teaching, so that convinced me to give this two weeks. Plus, I didn't want my son to be the first one to tarnish her record without giving this an honest try.

His teacher offered to give my son the extra attention to get him more adjusted to full day. She also suggested that I take him out to lunch since he was used to having quality time with me during the day.

Go on lunch dates. I listened to my son's teacher and set aside two days a week to take him out to lunch, just enough days in the week to give him a break from school but not too much to be removing him from a regular full-day of school routine. Sometimes we pick up our lunch at Subway or go through the drive-thru at Burger King and eat in the parking lot, and other times we'd pack a lunch and go somewhere to eat it, such as a park playground. But we never ate our lunch at home because that would defeat the purpose of having him get used to being at school.

For our lunch dates, I would sign him out of school for lunch and we would go to the park to eat lunch and play, as well as have some time away from school. Sometimes we would just drive around while he ate his lunch, and that was good enough for him because that also satisfied the quiet time and downtime that he was missing.

Pack a small bag of favorite toy. If your child is like mine, he enjoyed having a huge chunk of time to play by himself, whether it's building Legos, playing with other toys, watching TV, or going on the computer. Now that solo time is being taken up by a full day of school activities. A terrific way to give your child the opportunity to have that familiarity during school and to carve out time during his school day so he can enjoy the toys from home is to pack a small bag of his favorite toy, book, or special item. For my son, I filled a sandwich bag of Legos that he could play with while driving to school, waiting for the school to let the kids in, and while eating lunch at school. He even shared his bag of Legos with his friends while waiting for me to pick him up from school, so it ended being a great way for him to make new friends and enjoy being at school as well.

Send in a note or picture in backpack. For the first day of school for all of my kids, I would write a note saying how much I love them and how much fun they'll have in school, and leave that note in their backpack. It's a little reminder to let my kids know that they are never far from home.

Give free time right after school. For most kids, they like to have their own time, whether it's to play, rest, or read, and a lot of that time is taken up being at school for a full day. So as soon as my  kindergarteners get home and have showered, I give them a snack if they wish and let them have about an hour to themselves. (Note I only say kindergartener because when they're older and have been used to going to school for full days, they immediately do homework after having an after-school snack.)

Give time to adjust. Most importantly, give your child some time to adjust. As with a lot of new routines, there will need to be an adjustment period, not only to set up a new schedule but to allow your child to get used to the new routine. I was sure he was never going to accept transitioning to full day. However, after a week and a half, the tears stopped and "I hate school" was replaced by "it was okay" when asked the question "How was school?" That is okay by me.

After a week and a half since the first day of full-day kindergarten started and doing all the above, there weren't anymore heartbreaking drop-offs at school and no more crying about school (from either my son or me). In fact, he now enjoys school. Of course, there were some days of complaining, but that's normal. In less than two weeks of going to school for a full day, my son asked to stop having our lunch dates because he preferred to have lunch at school so he can be with his friends. It was then that I knew that he had successfully transitioned to being a full-day kindergartener.