In an effort to get Eva to kick her chronic thumb-sucking habit, I decided to appeal to her sense of empathy.

As she sucked away at her right thumb, I took hold of her left. “Oh, Mr Thumb,” I wailed. “I’m so sorry you can’t see Mrs. Thumb. You see, Eva has her locked away in a dark and scary cave, otherwise known as her mouth. You’ll have to see her another day.”

The sucking continued, but with a worried look on her face.

“Don’t cry, Mr. Thumb,” I continued. “I know you’re lonely. Maybe someday Eva will let Mrs. Thumb out of the dark scary cave, and then she can see the sunlight. And then the two of you will laugh and play and live happily ever after!”

For a moment, she took her thumb out of her mouth and studied it. I breathed a little hallelujah. After a solid year of my anti thumb-sucking tactics, I thought she was finally listening.

Turns out, she was. Ever since, she’s been sucking both thumbs at the same time.