6.03.2009

It's Time


I'd like to introduce Portia's favorite sleep friend. When Portia goes to bed, she cuddles up with her babies (at least two), her blankie (she gets to choose one and usually chooses the purple one) and a binky (she has four but always chooses the pink or blue one). Today I finally decided that she's almost 2 1/2 and the binky has to go. She really only had it in the bed for naptime and bedtime but I was ready to be completely done with baby phase. She's potty trained, it's time for the binky to go.

So on our walk home from the park today, we stopped and looked at a low nest in a tree by our house. Portia saw the baby birds and thought they were so cute. She asked me why they were crying, though, and I had a brilliant idea. So, I said, "The baby birds are sad because they don't have a binky to sleep with." She thought of the idea all on her own. "The babies should have my binkies!" "All of them?" I asked. She said, "Yes, then they be quiet and sleep." So we went in the house and while Palmer sat at the table finishing his lunch, I gathered all of her binkies, handed her a few of them and we went outside. I told her that if she put her binkies at the bottom of the tree where the baby birdies were, their mommy birdie would come get the binkies and give them to her babies. She thought that was great. She even said good-bye to the binkies (and the birdies) and we went inside for lunch. All was well.

Until it was time to sleep. Portia screamed and cried and wanted her binkies back. She didn't like those little birdies and spent the next 30 minutes yelling from her crib, "I need my binkies!" She even yelled at her two baby dolls in the crib, "Babies, go get my binkies from the baby birds. They took the binkies away!" She finally dozed off about ten minutes ago, binky-free. I'm sure we'll have another fun adventure tonight when we go to bed. But for the rest of today, we're binky-free. I'm officially free of all things baby! No diapers, no binkies, no onesies, no baby toys, no baby bottles or sippy cups. It's kind of nice....for now.

5 comments:

Stacy said...

Wow, inventive!
When my kids are around 2 1/2 I have a talk with them about how they are big now and don't need a binky anymore, so wouldn't they like to trade them all for a new toy? I have them gather up all their binkies in a bag and we take them to the store. They get to buy a new toy with their binkies. This way, it was their choice, and they know what they got in return.

Suz said...

LOL! That's hilarious. Taking the binky away is seriously rough- but they're still such life savers. My next child will still have one. :)

Kristen Mackrory said...

Cute way to do it! How cute that she thought of giving them away! I hope that each sleep time gets easier. We just took away Nathan's as well. We snipped the end off of it and when he put it in his mouth that night he handed it back to me. "Broke," he said. We had some tears, but I was surprised by how quickly he has adjusted.

Heather - said...

Binkies are hard. Matthew would never take one (which was a trial all it's own), and Ethan gave his up at 20 months...but only because he had a virus that caused canker sores in his mouth and it hurt to suck on the binky. I don't recommend that method!
I don't know what we'll do with Justin when that time comes. I'm with Suzanne, they're such life-savers!

Hugh Family said...

It seems like every time i try to take isaac's binky away he gets sick that night with a really bad cold. of course the binky seems to be the only thing that soothes him. I have faith that one of these days isaac will be binky free. Keep us posted on the progress. I'm sure we're all going to need your tips.