Monday, June 11, 2007
I hate to jinx myself...
But I did it anyway. I actually mentioned on my mommy board today that we had been paci and Tigger free for ten days. When we arrived at the beach house she never asked for it. She did naps, bedtimes, everything without paci or Tigger. How could we pass up the opportunity to make it permanent?

On the way home from the beach was the first test. We turned off her show and asked her to close her eyes and take a nap. She asked for paci and Tigger. We told her they were in the trunk and we couldn't get them. She went into hysterics. She now does full blown tantrums with shrieks. She tenses up her whole body, and if she's throwing the fit over paci or food, she'll slap her open mouth too. It's a sight to behold. We cut off that fit by turning her show back on to distract her. She fell asleep watching it twenty minutes later.

When we got home Saturday she never asked for paci at bedtime. We've been trying to add books to her bedtime routine to distract her from the fact that there's no paci and Tigger. She takes the books to bed with her. We also sprung the big girl bed on her too, while we were mixing things up. She thinks her bed is broken.

No mention of paci and Tigger Sunday.

I figured today would be the reckoning. We're back into her routine. She always wants her paci first thing when she gets in the car after being picked up at Mary's. Today was no exception. I told her there was no paci. She got upset. Then the shrieking started. Then the bucking in her seat and mouth beating. I felt bad for her, but this has to be done, there's no going back. She carried on for a long time, then she told me "Stop driving."
I was like, "whaaaaa?"
"Stop driving, stop driving, stop driving."
"Emma I'm driving us home."
"Stop driving."
"Emma, you're a big girl now, you don't need a paci."
"I'm not."
"You're a big girl in a big girl's bed now."
"I'm not, I'm not. I'm a baby, Mommy. I'm a baby. I'm a baby. I'm a baby. I'm a baby, Mommy!"

This went on and on and on and it was pretty pitiful. Until I remembered I had a present for her (God bless you, Leslie, and thank you). I handed her an envelope and she opened it to find a Dora coloring book and crayons. From then on she was quiet while she concentrated on coloring in her new book.

I'm telling you, I think distraction is our ticket to paci freedom. If it comes to it I'm amenable to giving her Tigger back, but paci is a goner.
Written at 8:12 PM by Highlandgal.
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