Some may find this amusing, maybe even ridiculous. But I assure you, it’s been a very big deal for us. Right up there with potty-training and transitioning to a big kid bed (we’re not going to attempt to put Charlotte through either of those quite yet).
(drumroll)…
*****CHARLOTTE HAS GIVEN UP HER BINKIES FOREVER!!!*****
Pictures like the one below will be happening no longer, because there are no more pacifiers to be found in the house… they’re tucked away somewhere at Jessica & Casey’s. Shhh!
This all started on Saturday night when I bought an Ariel hairbrush for Charlotte (Ariel is her FAVE), and of course Pace commented, “She doesn’t need that!” Hmmm. Right then & there I decided that we would give her the beautiful brush in exchange for the binkies.
Why???
1. Because it was time, 2. She’s a big 2-year-old now, 3. We’re tired of looking for the binkies for every nap and bed time, 4. She’ll have other traumatizing issues to deal with soon enough (like potty-training), and 5. Her teeth will thank us later.
So the very next day we had Charlotte gather all her pacifiers and put them in a large envelope addressed to the “Binky Fairy” (an idea from Supernanny– love it). She was excited about being a big girl, though she certainly didn’t foresee the drastic results of this little ceremony.
We marched outside to put them in the mailbox for the Binky Fairy.
Charlotte came inside to find her new magical Ariel brush from the “Binky Fairy"! She has been carrying it around the house ever since (along with her Ariel doll, and occasionally her Princess magazine and her Unicorn Pillow Pet). She has to have those things with her to go to bed now, too.
The next time she had to go to sleep after “mailing” the binkies, she frantically searched her crib and asked, “Binkies?!?!??” And for the next few days, complete TORTURE followed for all of us. I knew it would happen, but I didn’t know how challenging it would be. She didn’t nap and would cry for a long time before going to sleep, and also woke up all night. It was one of those things where you just want to give in. But we endured! It was tough love.
Charlotte is now completely binky-free and is doing just fine without those darn things. She goes to bed and states calmly, “Charlotte big girl. No cry.” She is proud to call herself a big girl.
This may sound a little silly, but I feel like we’ve accomplished something great, and I’m relieved that things are back to normal now!
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