November 13, 2012
Yes, the time has come for Mary Kate to say goodbye to her dear friend the binky. I have been thinking about taking it away for a few months now, but have not been committed enough to go through with it. Jay is out of town this week so I decided to go for it and surprise him. I knew if I could make it through the nights he was gone we would be over the hardest days and nights. I prayed he wouldn't be upset and give it back when he got home. Deep down I knew he wouldn't, but since she is potty trained this is kind of her last "baby" thing. It is hard to get rid of all the baby stuff when you know she is your last one. I took the binky away on Tuesday afternoon following her nap. She got it for the last time at nap that day. We talked about it all evening to pump her up. Max and I told Mary Kate that she was a big girl like Dora the Explorer (her most recent craze) and that Dora didn't have a binky. We discussed what kind of reward she wanted for "no more binkies" as she started repeating. She declined the offer for a new baby doll and decided she wanted more earrings. Done! We told her that we would go earring shopping if she didn't use a binky. Mary Kate called each set of grandparents and told them the plan. She was all on board until it came to bedtime. Each night Jay rocks her until she starts getting sleepy or until she goes to sleep. They rock while Max and I snuggle in the chair. I always struggle with her when Jay is gone because I never rock her; that is her and Jay's time, just like snuggling is mine and Max's time. So as we started to rock she first cried for Jay and that soon moved to the binky. She repeated "I want my binky" in between sobs for the next 45 minutes. By this point Max was begging me to give it to her and he was actually up looking for the stash. Thank goodness I had collected and hid them. After 45 minutes we all moved to my bed to sleep. Our kids don't regularly sleep with us, but they know it is a treat when Jay is gone that they get to sleep with me. We all got into the bed and she continued to whimper. She was not throwing a temper tantrum anymore, but she continued to ask for it. Eventually, with in the next hour she fell asleep as so did Max and I. She slept all night and I never heard a peep until she opened her eyes on Wednesday morning. The first thing out of her mouth was "I want my binky." Max and I just told her no and that we didn't have binkys anymore. She pouted and asked for it a few more times while we all got ready. I kept her really busy on Wednesday and decided to skip the nap for my sanity. My plan was that she would be really tired at bedtime and the crying would be less. I think the plan worked because she only cried for a few minutes and it wasn't even a temper tantrum. She fell asleep quickly, but she woke up probably three or four times in the night asking for it. I just gently patted her back down and told her that we didn't have any more binkies. Thursday morning was the same as Wednesday and she wanted one when she first woke up, but I didn't hear anything about it again until bedtime. During the day we went and she picked out two new pairs of earrings. She was so proud of them and thrilled to tell her Daddy. That night she was super tired because I had again skipped her nap. She asked for it a few times, but didn't cry or throw any fits. On Friday, Mama Nora, her babysitter told me that she took a nap like a champ with no problem. We are now two weeks past the mark and have had no set backs. She has found a few around the house and brought them to me. She fused a little one day wanting the one she found, but after a minute of two of whiling for it she went on about her business. I am glad we are over this hurdle for our household. It was really hard to take Max's away so I haven't looked forward to reliving it with Mary Kare, but she did great and we all survived. Jay was a little saddened just like all the grandparents hated to see it go, but I think they are all proud of her. Onto the next challenges!
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