oh, the trauma
We're honestly not trying to screw our kid up too badly. I mean, him being in therapy when he grows up is really not a long term goal for us. You might not be able to tell that by the last 14 or so hours, but its true.
Last night we decided to give up the binkies. He's probably been a little too big for them for a while now, and for the last year or so he has only been allowed to have them in bed at night. We got rid of all but a few quite a while ago, but last night we decided to take the plunge.
At first it seemed to be going really well. We introduced the "Binky Fairy" concept to him. Now, I'm not a HUGE fan of lying to my kid, but whatever gets the job done, right? And for that matter, why ARE we so concerned about our kids believing in santa clause who comes down the chimney and rides a sleigh and tooth fairies and all of that? Is there some kind of insecurity in us that makes us play out these things on our children?
But I digress.
The Binky Fairy, for the uninitiated, means that the child puts all his binkies in a bag and then hangs them from a tree in the yard. While he is sleeping, the binky fairy takes them and gives them to babies who need them, and leaves the child a special surprise. At first, he willingly participated. He gathered all the binkies up and put them in the bag, he went with me and helped tie them to the tree. We were even outside for a while last night and he had no thought of trying to get at that bag.
Then when it was bed time, he must have suddenly figured out that this meant they were leaving for good. Oh my goodness, I don't think I've ever seen him that upset. He was literally BEGGING us to not let the binky fairy take the binkies.
My wife, being more mature than me, handled him very well and just kept deflecting his attention to other things and calmed him down. Of course, he till slept in our bed with us, but that is kind of to be expected at the moment.
This morning he woke up happy, I thought we were clear. He ran downstairs to see if the binky fairy had come, and saw that his bag was gone and another bag was there instead. Meltdown #2. He cried and sobbed and begged for binkies. He didn't want all of them gone, just one. I couldn't even convince him to go look in the bag that was outside.
I finally carried him outside and knelt down by the tree, opening the bag so he could look in. Still crying, he buried his face in my chest the other direction, away from the bag. Eventually his curiosity got the better of him, and he slowly looked in.
From that moment, we've been fine. All tears disappeared and he yelled, "Wow! A dinosaur!" Good choice mom, I mean binky fairy, for picking that one out. He is inside playing happily with the new toy.
We'll see what happens later tonight when he starts to want a binky again. I'm thinking it has to get a little easier every day, right? I mean, eventually he'll understand it and he won't be sitting in a therapy session explaining his lack of trust issues because his parents made him put his cherished binkies in a bag for a spiteful little binky fairy to take them away... right?
Last night we decided to give up the binkies. He's probably been a little too big for them for a while now, and for the last year or so he has only been allowed to have them in bed at night. We got rid of all but a few quite a while ago, but last night we decided to take the plunge.
At first it seemed to be going really well. We introduced the "Binky Fairy" concept to him. Now, I'm not a HUGE fan of lying to my kid, but whatever gets the job done, right? And for that matter, why ARE we so concerned about our kids believing in santa clause who comes down the chimney and rides a sleigh and tooth fairies and all of that? Is there some kind of insecurity in us that makes us play out these things on our children?
But I digress.
The Binky Fairy, for the uninitiated, means that the child puts all his binkies in a bag and then hangs them from a tree in the yard. While he is sleeping, the binky fairy takes them and gives them to babies who need them, and leaves the child a special surprise. At first, he willingly participated. He gathered all the binkies up and put them in the bag, he went with me and helped tie them to the tree. We were even outside for a while last night and he had no thought of trying to get at that bag.
Then when it was bed time, he must have suddenly figured out that this meant they were leaving for good. Oh my goodness, I don't think I've ever seen him that upset. He was literally BEGGING us to not let the binky fairy take the binkies.
My wife, being more mature than me, handled him very well and just kept deflecting his attention to other things and calmed him down. Of course, he till slept in our bed with us, but that is kind of to be expected at the moment.
This morning he woke up happy, I thought we were clear. He ran downstairs to see if the binky fairy had come, and saw that his bag was gone and another bag was there instead. Meltdown #2. He cried and sobbed and begged for binkies. He didn't want all of them gone, just one. I couldn't even convince him to go look in the bag that was outside.
I finally carried him outside and knelt down by the tree, opening the bag so he could look in. Still crying, he buried his face in my chest the other direction, away from the bag. Eventually his curiosity got the better of him, and he slowly looked in.
From that moment, we've been fine. All tears disappeared and he yelled, "Wow! A dinosaur!" Good choice mom, I mean binky fairy, for picking that one out. He is inside playing happily with the new toy.
We'll see what happens later tonight when he starts to want a binky again. I'm thinking it has to get a little easier every day, right? I mean, eventually he'll understand it and he won't be sitting in a therapy session explaining his lack of trust issues because his parents made him put his cherished binkies in a bag for a spiteful little binky fairy to take them away... right?
posted by Jeff at 9:50 AM
0 comments
