We are alive! The weekend I was dreading for months, if not longer, has finally come and gone. We had designated this past weekend as “the” weekend to finally take away Meredith’s pacifiers. I cannot believe how emotionally attached she was to her passy. It had become her total comfort and joy. She wanted to have it either in her mouth or by her side at all times. She was upset when she lost it and overjoyed when she found it again.Because of her extreme love for and attachment to her passy, I felt like a total villain for taking it away. But then I also knew I had to administer some tough-love because her passy was starting to mess up her teeth. I could already tell its affects on her bite. So, this past weekend was THE weekend.
We started with a “Big Girl Ceremony” on Friday night to inaugurate the big weekend. The ceremony was complete with eloquent speeches, a passy gathering (the "pink one," "white one," "monkey one," etc.), a trash dumping (done by Meredith herself), a final prayer for all of Meredith’s dearly departed pacifiers and grace for her to get through the first couple days and nights, plus ice cream to celebrate.
First let me say, I cannot believe how much time I spent dreading this compared to how much of a problem it really was. Meredith clearly understood what had happened so, whenever she asked for her passy, we reminded her: “Meredith, what did you do with your passy?” “Trash,” she would reply. She wept a few times but never cried herself to sleep, like I expected she might. As the weekend progressed, she asked for it fewer and fewer times. Today, she’s only asked for it once so far.
The hardest part was that she got the flu on Saturday morning (of course, the weekend we were going to take the passy away, she would get sick). Several times I was tempted to give in but, since Meredith had already emotionally said good-bye, I knew I had to hold my ground. In the end I’m glad that we staid course. She’s now feeling better and, with the passing of her pacifier, it seems she has officially entered big girlhood.
7 comments:
You are my hero. I didn't really want to read this post, as we have been putting off this day for our 3-yr old for too long. At this point, we are more addicted to the peace it brings than he is. I'm inspired to revisit the issue again and hopefully send the passys to their death. -rlr
Don't I remember that your parents did the same thing with you and your bottles?
It's not typically Amy or anything to turn it into a celebration with ice cream. :)
-- SJ
My little brother Jeffrey use to love pacifiers and would not only have on his mouth but also insist on carrying at least one in his hand. It was a bad night when we couldn't find the pacifiers. Great job in solving that problem early!!
:)
Rachelle, the funny thing is, now that "detox" is over and she's on her way to falling asleep easily without her passy, I'm amazed at how much time I've saved already in not having to help her keep track of pacifiers! (And how much less crying she does now, because she's no longer frustrated at having lost them.)
If I added up all the hours I've spent helping Meredith find her lost passys, it's probably been at least a week's worth of my life! Seriously!
Meredith is addicted to her blanket too, so now I only have one thing (an easier thing) to look for at bedtime. Why didn't I do this sooner? :)
Hurray for the passing of the passy! Good for you for sticking to your decision. Consistent parenting is a hallmark of a mostly peaceful home. :)
What a great way for Meredith to pass on her passy! That's going to be such a fun memory (even if it's distant in her mind). She's lucky to have you and Kevin as her parents!
I won't mention any names... but Meredith has a relative who still has his/her baby blanket... so good luck gettting rid of that one
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