Today was THE day! Tim and I have been prepping Jack for months now that "when he turns 3, he doesn't need a binky any more". We'd ask him "What happens when you turn three?" and he'd reply "I don't need a binky!".
So to not totally ruin his birthday for any of us we decided that the day AFTER his birthday would be THE day. THE day when we mailed the binkies to the binky fairy so she could give them to a new baby who needed them now.
We addressed an envelope and I put the first binky in and gave Jack binky and quack quack to hold for a minute. I felt like I was getting ready to put a good friend of his to sleep or something - it was quite sad. He eventually took of the clip and removed binky from the strap and placed him in the envelope, then he said he wanted to send the strap too so the baby could have it as well. We sealed up the envelope and walked it down to the mailbox to mail to the binky fairy.
We left the house and went for a ride on the WF&P Railroad (see our post titled "All Aboard!").
In order to make it appear as though the binky fairy had actually came, I made a quick phone call to the neighbor's daughter and asked her to run to the mail box and take the envelope out before we got home. Thank you McKenzie for doing that for me!
When we got home, Jack asked to see if the binky fairy had come so we ran down to the mail box and sure enough.....she had come and taken the envelope out and taken his binkies to a new baby. So far so good!
Now we see how tonight goes........his first "bedtime" without his beloved binky! Argh! Could go well, or it could be a sleepless one for Tim and I - only time will tell. But we're proud of Jack - like many other things he's done in his short lifetime, he did it ON HIS OWN! Of course with a little help from Mommy and Daddy - but he did it! He gave binky up to another baby who needs him now.
Please Note - I did recover the envelope from the neighbors and will keep it for Jack for when he's older and can appreciate this story. I couldn't bear throwing them away!
SUNDAY NIGHT/MONDAY MORNING UPDATE!: Well......yesterday's nap time came and went without incident – no tears, no major meltdowns. Jack wanted to sleep in our bed, so Tim put him down there. After a few "Mom, I fell out of bed" occurrences he finally fell asleep and napped for 2 hours. Woke up very well too!
Then came bedtime….Tim and I were NOT looking forward to it at all as we were expecting an eruption similar to that of Mt. St. Helens with smoke and ash and all. We did bath time, story time and then into his crib (just like we always do). We anticiptated tears and screaming but NOTHING! Jack asked Tim where binky was and Tim said "Remember, you put him into an envelope and mailed him to the binky fairy for a new baby to have?" and Jack responded "Oh yeah". Later he told Tim that he missed his binky and Tim acknowledged that he did but said it was okay to miss it but he was a big boy now and didn’t need a binky anymore. Then it was lights out and after about 45 minutes of restlessness, he fell asleep and slept ALL NIGHT LONG! TIM AND I COULDN"T BELEIEVE IT!!! We are so proud of Jack! For a little boy who was "addicted" to his binky, he has gone cold turkey and done amazingly well! We expected the worst and so far have gotten just the opposite.
So for all you parents who have THAT DAY looming in your future when the infamous binky, nini, paci or whatever you call it has to go bye bye - there IS HOPE! My advice is to build up to it. Make it a GOOD THING and that your child is doing something to benefit another and hopefully you will have the same results that we have had.
Yes, tonight could be a different story but hopefully not. Hopefully our big 3-year-old boy will continue to amaze us and show us that he can do this!
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