Well, it finally happened--Hope doesn't have her pacifiers anymore! I'm not sure whether to jump for joy or break down in tears. I know every parent faces decisions like the one Jay and I had to make yesterday. A strange twist of fate presented us with the opportunity to break Hope's nukie habit 'cold turkey'. We had been talking about the Nukie Fairy for a while now. She has been excited about the idea that the fairy would bring her some great gifts, but not quite ready to take that final step to give up her million suck a day habit. We had already sent our stash of extra nukies to the fairy, so she was just down to her 'two nukies and clipper'(a very aesthetically pleasing orange nuk attached to a pink nuk by a ribbon that had a clip on the other end in case Hope wanted to attach her Nuk sucking mouth to another object-exactly what an almost three year old needs dangling from her mouth 24/7). So yesterday the whole lot of dangling nukies went missing amid a giant family play date involving fourteen children in my fairly small house-not a big surprise!
At first she didn't even know they were gone. All the cousins kept her playing happily all afternoon. By dinner time Hope was starting to get sleepy and began asking urgently for her nukies. It was then that I made the swift decision to suggest that maybe the Nukie Fairy had taken them. At first she thought this was great! She would finally get the gifts that had been promised, but this excitement only last about an hour and the tears started to flow at bedtime! There is nothing that I like less than my adorable daughter looking at me with her tear streaked, snotty face and knowing that I am to blame. I know this because just a few minutes before bedtime I found them. They were laying on RJ's bed when I tucked him in. My choice now was to lie over and over and over to keep up the Nukie Fairy charade or to just give them back and let her go to sleep. This is where Jay steps in.
Jay keeps my soft heart in check when it comes to parenting. It would have been so easy to just let her suck those nukies into dreamland last night. But after already putting the Nukie Fairy plan in motion Jay thought we should stick with it and make the break. I know he was right-it is just so hard to see my sweet babies cry!!!
To my surprise the waterworks lasted a much shorter amount of time than I anticipated. Soon Hope was asleep and she only woke once in the night to ask if I had found her nukies yet. To which I responded "no" and back to sleep she went with no tears!!!! Hope was at my bedside this morning just after 6 with bright eyes and a huge smile:) "The nukie fairy already camed!" We ran downstairs to see the pile of gifts by the front door amid plastic sparkly fairy dust. Hope now has a Dora bedding set, Baby Jaguar doll and her own pack of gum-exactly what Nukie Fairies have been bringing young children for centuries I'm sure! And now another little part of my baby is gone forever:(mommy tears...
At least I won't be chasing that damn Nukie dangler around the house ever again!!!!Yippee!!!!!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Wow, I'm impressed- cold turkey! Go Hope!
The best part: YOU don't have to be there at bedtime tonight! ;)
See you tonight.
The nukie fairy says job well done! Congrats to the big girl...and the sad, but relieved mommy!!
Oh you are brave. I dread the day we get rid of "binkies" in our house. My 2+ year old lurrves his bink. I know that day is near. Or overdue. But I'm still in denial.
I love your idea of getting gifts from the fairy. I am definitely stealing that when the time comes. Thanks!!
Post a Comment