Our 'sassy' story

First of all, remember last year when I tried to take away Eleanor's pacifier? Oh brother. Well, since then, I've been stressing about how I would ever get rid of that thing. Yes, for almost an entire year, I have worried about how in the world I was going to do it. Well, I decided it was time to just face the problem head-on, and take that stupid thing away. I mostly felt I needed to do it now because we have other life-altering events coming up...big-girl bed, potty training...and I didn't want giving up the pacie to coincide with those.

For a while now, I had been telling Eleanor that pacifiers were for babies and that big girls don't need pacifiers. I could tell she was really listening, but that didn't stop her from grabbing like a maniac for her 'sassy' at bedtime and naptime, which were the only times (besides when we were traveling) that I let her have it.

Tuesday morning, while we were grocery shopping at Target, I bought a Gloworm, which I had planned to use during the pacie intervention. I had not decided yet when the actual D-day would be. Well, Tuesday afternoon, Eleanor got her pacies out of her crib, and instead of threatening her with time-out if she didn't put them back, we started talking about them, and how they were for babies. Then, we found ourselves playing this game of giving the pacies to her stuffed animals. She would say, "For puppy? Okay! Not for An-nor. For doll? Okay! Not for An-nor."

I decided that was the perfect opportunity to jump in and get rid of the things. I got a baggie, and we put all three pacifiers in (yes, she had to have three to sleep!) Then, we took them outside and put them in the mailbox. On the way out, I told her that the pacifier fairy was going to take the pacies away and give them to the babies that needed them, and that she would leave a special present in their place. Hey, I wasn't lying...just pretending.

We went back in the house while Jared took the Gloworm out and put it in the mailbox. Then, we went out, and found the Gloworm in the mailbox. She was VERY excited, mostly because the Gloworm has a moon on its shirt, and she's obsessed with all things celestial.

That night, at bedtime, she kept trying to give Gloworm back to me, but she only asked for her 'sassy' once. She mostly just whimpered and made these sad faces that broke my little mommy heart all to pieces. I stayed in her room until she fell asleep. The next day, naptime was sort of an ordeal. I let her scream for ten minutes, went in, left, let her scream for fifteen more minutes, went in and rubbed her head for less than a minute before she fell asleep.

That night, she went to bed without a peep. Not a peep. I even tiptoed into her room to make sure she was alive, and then teared up because I was so proud of her for being such a big girl. Every naptime and bedtime since then has been flawless. I would have never in my wildest dreams seen this process being this easy...just 72 hours ago, she was a total 'sassy' fiend!!

So, that's it. I can't believe I'm saying this, but we're a pacifier-free household.

I feel like I should pop open some champagne...