*****
01.14.06
Chickie is born.
01.31.06
We give her a binky (pacifier). I sing its praises because she likes to overeat and then projectile vomit (lovely, I know), and the binky helps satisfy her sucking needs without giving her an overly-full tummy.
08.17.07
Chickie, at 19 months old, says bye bye to her binkies and is rewarded with an Elmo DVD. I am immensely relieved as by this time I feel the binky has been running my life. From months of having to replace it in her mouth while sleeping (before she could put it in herself), to emergency "binky runs" to Target when we couldn't find any, to stretching my arm to twice its normal length trying to replace it in her mouth with her sitting behind me in the car, to having a permanent binky-shaped indentation in the pocket of my jeans, to just being sick of seeing a toddler's mouth constantly invisible behind a plastic device...I was sick of the things and SO glad to be rid of them.
03.29.08
Zoodle is born.
04.01.08
Zoodle is crying. The Engineer asks, "When do we give him a binky?" I reply that I'm not sure if I ever want to use one--"We'll see." (Mommy code for "Hopefully never.")
04.03.08
The Engineer suggests the binky when Zoodle is crying. I say I don't want to use it.
04.04.08, 04.08.08, etc.
Repeat of 04.03.08
04.12.08
I tell The Engineer I think it would be okay to use the binky while Zoodle is swaddled, since he can't get to his hands to suck on them. But that's IT, no other times. Zoodle easily starts sucking on the binky. In future weeks I occasionally realize The Engineer has "sneaked" Zoodle a binky when I've been out of the house, but I figure if the guy is being a good enough dad to watch his son, I need to let him bend the rules a bit.
06.11.08
Chickie is sick, and I give Zoodle the binky in the car, not willing to deal with a sick toddler and a crying baby.
06.16.08
Zoodle is sick, and I tell him since he doesn't feel well he can have the binky as much as he wants, all day long. I clip it to his shirt.
06.18.08
I give Zoodle the binky on our four hour car ride with Little Sis, and when it keeps the in-car crying to a minimum, I consider sending flowers to the genius who invented these things.
06.20.08
I type a blog with a content, binky-sucking baby on my lap. Then I sign the contract to sell my soul, once again, to the binky manufacturers. Sigh....
4 comments:
Psst... once you get back... I've got an award for you over on my blog!
I had the same mixed emotions about them when I had babies, and I still do. When I see a picture of a baby with one in their mouth, I feel like you can't see the child -- just the binky!
Gunny took one for a while, but DD rejected one (a mixed blessing). They DO help pacify a baby, no doubt about it!
I know you must be having a great time with your parent, but I'm guessing The Engineer is getting pretty tired of a quiet house by now! :)
I'm very impressed that you got Chickie to give up the binky at 19 months...I could use some pointers! (was it really only the promise of Elmo?)
Sweetpea calls her binkie her "me"...I'm thinking she might be identifying with it a bit too closely?!? ;)
Oh. So. Funny.
My son Cal was a "nuk" kid. Had it with him always. Stashed them all around the house. We would take them away and then turn around and he would have one in his mouth! When he finally went to a big boy room and bed, we took down the crib, and there, tucked all around were nuks! I kept them in a tall plastic cup, the kind you get at a football game, on a high shelf. Just about a year ago, I came across that cup filled to the brim with nuks. My son is 10. But I still had a moment of pause, like should I really throw them away? His sister, 7, didn't care for them as much. I actually had a tear in my eye as I threw them out, and realized that they weren't little for long, although it felt like it would never end.
Thanks for reminding me of all of that. You are a delight!
Enjoy the day!
Erin
Post a Comment