Bethany is our first binky baby. Josh was never interested and Hannah has sucked her thumb since the day she was born. (We are still working on that one.) Bethany uses her binky to sooth when she is upset and tired, and when she goes to bed. I would not say she is addicted to her binky, we have never clipped it to her or anything, but she definitely likes it and asks for it. One place I really want her to have her binky is in the car. Pretty much if she doesn’t have it with her, she screams at me until I either ignore her until she cries, then eventually gives up, or I give in and give her the binky. For my own sanity, I usually give her the binky in the car.
When we moved into this house 18 months ago, we brought about 5 or 6 binkies with us. But, over time, they have slowly disappeared. I have found that a binky disappearing is the same as that lone sock that disappears into the dryer abyss. It’s just gone, forever. Around the new year we had yet another binky disappear into thin air, making us down to only one binky, Bethany’s favorite, the white one with the little pink lamb on it. I have been saying for awhile now that after she turns 2, the binkies were going away. And then, the binky with the lamb disappeared. I was bummed, I wasn’t ready to for the tough love quite yet, but I put her to bed without it, and she slept.
I believe it was the next day that favored binky suddenly reappeared in my coat pocket and, in a weak moment, I gave it back to Bethany. I kept a tight reign on that little white binky with the pink lamb. We ran up and down the stairs for that thing for several days. And then one evening Bethany was behind the couch. One moment she was standing there binky-free and the next thing I knew, her head popped up with an orange binky in her mouth. Apparently the only people on earth that can find things that have disappeared into thin air are toddlers. But I was relieved to know that we could now have an upstairs binky and a downstairs binky, like before.
Tuesday was a half day for the big kids, so I surprised them at the bus stop in the MV and took them to BK for lunch. The first time we pulled into the parking lot, Hannah started to cry that her feet were so soaked that her socks were see through, from playing in the rain at recess. Being the loving mom that I am, we drove all the way back home (about 2 miles), so she could change her socks and shoes. Josh, Bethany and I waited in the car as she ran inside. She came out in a completely different outfit with dry socks and shoes on. (Classic Hannah, right there). The second time we arrived, as we headed into BK, Bethany dropped her white binky with the little pink lamb on it on the sidewalk. Before I could grab it to make sure it was “clean”, she plopped it back in her mouth. “I guess it’s clean now,” I thought. That was the last time I remember seeing that binky.
When we left BK, I realized that Bethany didn’t have her binky. I dug around in the car and then I remembered that the last time she had it was when we were walking in. I knew it was somewhere in BK. After about 30 seconds of thinking about it, I decided not to go back in and look for it. We were officially back down to one binky. I was half tempted to buy a new one, but decided not to since she’ll be two in a few weeks and I was going to take it away anyway. So we spent the next couple of days lugging the orange binky from behind the couch up and down the stairs.
Yesterday, Bethany and I did some errands and met Shad for lunch. Somewhere in the chaos of errands, the orange binky disappeared. I knew it was in the car somewhere because Bethany had it when I put her in. I searched and even stood on my head to look under the seats…it was gone, into the great abyss of the car. We were officially without a binky.
And so it begins.
One thing that Shad and I have noticed about Bethany is that she is a total individual. She does very few things the way Josh and Hannah did at her age. She is super silly, loves to hide things then play peek-a-boo with them, she’s a little sassy, a lot mischievous and a little bit crazy. So it should not have come as a surprise when she didn’t react the way I thought she would when it came to binky-free bed times. She has had two naps and one bed time since going binky-free and I am happy to say that, while she has asked about her binky, she has not cried or thrown a fit. When I tell her it is “all gone” she says okay. But, I am here to say, that she has acted out. (Did I mention she is a little crazy?) The girl has spent about 30 minutes before falling asleep jumping in her bed, hollering and kicking the walls. She’s not mad or upset, just…well, crazy like. She’s playing, but also putting off trying to go to sleep. Today I had to go up and tell her no more jumping and no more yelling, it was getting really loud. She jumps so hard in her crib that it sounds like she is pounding a hammer on the floor and she hoots and hollers while she is doing it. It’s like she is on a play ground playing. Like I said, she is an individual, this girl.
Today I went to get the stroller out of the car when an orange binky fell out onto the ground. Quickly I grabbed it and put it in my pocket before Bethany could see it. Josh looked at me like I was crazy when I told him not to say the “B” word. My first thought was to keep it, just in case and then NO! I promptly turned around and put it way down in the garbage can. There, that’s the end of the binky.
We are quite pleased that Bethany is handling her binky-free life, so far, like a champ. She has asked me about it a few times and every time I tell her it is all gone, she is satisfied with that answer. She has not been irritable or cranky. I have not had to drive anywhere with her yet, but I think she is going to be just fine without her binky.
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