No More BINKY!!!!!!!!

Okay Okay. So I know I should have done this a million years ago. And to tell the truth, even after being binky-free for 5 days, this morning when Morgan was having one of those nothing but whiny mornings, I wished I could stick the thing in her mouth. The point (come on Brytani, please get to the point) is that Morgan having her binky this long has been mostly our fault. Of course the kid loves the thing, but until recently, I REALLY loved the thing.

Here's how it happened: I dropped off the car for JD at work because my mom and I were having a day full of candy making. Mmmmm...fudge.... Anyhow, I locked up the car, trudged across the VERY icy parking lot (we have to park like a million miles away from Costco because its the employee parking, which didn't even get salted or plowed thank you very much) and went inside to drop off the keys with JD. Once I got into my mom's truck, I realized the binky was tucked safely inside the door panel of the Neon. Great. I was debating on whether I should go back into Costco, get the keys, trudge back across the ice, then take the keys BACK into JD just for the stupid plug when I decided, "She can do without." And that is how it started.

The first day was amazing. She would ask for it, and I would tell her we didn't have one at Nanny's house, and then she would just say, "Its at mine home? Okay, mommy" Since it was going SO easy, I called up JD and told him to find some type of toy because today was the day, we were getting rid of this stupid thing once and for all and the "Big Girl Fairy" was most definitely make a stop at our house tonight.

Morgan fell asleep in the car on the way home from my Mom's and I thought I was going to get out of the first night without a binky thing easy...uhhh not so much. When we got home and were transferring her into some warm jammies (she sleeps like a rock and for that I am grateful) she woke up and immediately started asking for her "Beenty" I just laid with her and cuddled her in her room and told her we weren't going to have it tonight, because she was big and didn't need it. She screamed and thrashed and was just all over miserable because all she wanted was to sleep, and has NEVER spent a night without it.

Well, morning came, and Morgan came into my room asking for her binky. She said, "Its lost. You need to find it." I told her we had a visitor last night and I sat down with her on the couch and went into a crazy story about a fairy who flew in our front door and gave me a stern talking to, that Morgan was a big girl and I shouldn't let her be a baby anymore. And that if I was ready for my baby girl to be a big girl, I needed to give the Big Girl Fairy all Morgan's binkies and she would leave Morgan a present in their place. And the Big Girl Fairy would sprinkle her magic Big Girl dust on Morgan before she left, so that Morgan would be a big girl, and not need her binky anymore.

We looked under Morgan's pillow, and there was a clue from the Big girl fairy which sent Morgan on a scavenger hunt for her present the Big Girl Fairy had left for her.

JD did an awesome job picking out this present. It is a set of 4 build-a-bear animals that come with plastic needles and everything so she could sew, stuff, dress, and decorate the whole thing herself.

The first animal we made, a puppy, took almost 2 hours to complete. A good, long, involved distraction was exactly what I was hoping for, and he couldn't have picked a better gift for that.

When we got done making the puppy, she was so happy with it.

When JD got up, I told her very excited-like to tell Daddy that the Big Girl Fairy brought this puppy for Morgan since she was big and didn't need her binky anymore. Morgan's response was to throw the puppy on the floor and tell me she was too little for the puppy, and she needed to be little with her binky again. Thank heaven I had thought of the dust idea and told her the binkies were gone, and she had been sprinkled with magic dust and could not go back to being a baby anymore. Once you are big, you are big, and thats that.

I made a sticker chart for her too, she loves those things, and I am trying to use a little psychological trickery on her because she gets to put a sticker up when she tells me or JD (or Howie) that she is a big girl and doesn't need her binkies anymore. I mean...its not too horrible to trick your kid into convincing herself she's big, is it?

Anyhow, so far I have heard the innocent: "Mommy, lets go to the store and buy a new binky for me to have." And the serious: "Mommy. You better find my binky. You better get it for me, RIGHT NOW." But, somehow, we have held firm. And, for the most part, it hasn't been too bad :)