The
use of the thumb
16 February, 2000
If you press an upside-down thumb to your forehead before the other person, it means you don't have to do it, and they do. It's a game Deb and I play. When there's something that needs to be done, and it's not something that really thrills you, then whoever realises that the thing needs to be done will press their thumb against their forehead that way. Sometimes you might walk around for a couple of minutes before the other person looks at you. Then they realise. And they invariably realise what needs to be done pretty soon afterwards.
Matthew loves books. He reads a lot of them. Actually, we read a lot of them to him. That's a good thing. I know it's a good thing. But, you know, sometimes you just can't quite face reading another book. Or reading a particular book for the fifth time that day. One of his books is about a boy named George who builds a house in a cardboard box and won't let any of his friends into the house. Matthew loves this book. He calls it "George". It's not a bad book by any means. But, as the saying goes, familiarity breeds contempt!
Deb was feeding him his bottle tonight. It's a little ritual where he runs into our bedroom, crawls up onto the bed and lays there while he drinks his bottle before going to bed. One of us will lay there with him and perhaps read him a story.
I made the mistake of going in there just after his bottle, just after Deb had read two books to him. He spied "George" on the bed. "George, George", he cried as he crawled towards it. Deb had the bottle in her hand so she was a bit handicapped. In a blur my thumb imprinted on my forehead. There's still a mark there now.
I was backing discreetly, but quickly, out of the room as I heard Deb trying to explain to him that George needed to sleep now too.