And then it was gone...

...the little sister's plug, that is. Her paci. Binky. Whatever you call it-we call it a plug. Like Pax, I weaned her off of it except in bed (and occasionally in the car, like on long trips) when she was 14 months old. And I knew that, like Pax, I'd probably wean her completely  about 2 1/2. I wasn't about to take to take it away during the craziness of moving 3 times in 5 months, tons of road trips (she's already a not-so-great car sleeper!), a loooong flight to and from Paris, and the advent of a new baby. A kid needs a little comfort sometimes. (and, let's face it, a Mama needs to know there's something that will absolutlywithoutadoubt work sometimes.) So-she kept the plug. Well, except one got thrown away because she kept getting out of bed at night.
      Anyways, she was down to 2. Then, 2 Fridays ago, she brought me a plug to be washed that had fallen on my (maybe not spotless) kitchen floor...upon closer inspection, I realized she'd chewed holes in it (just like Pax did); so I explained to her I had to throw it away because it would get nasty inside and make her sick. Smart cookie that she is, she understood, and I chucked it. I told Adam about the incident later that day, saying that I'd probably do the same thing with the last plug eventually, too, and then she'd be all done with it. I figured we've have her off the plug in a month or so.
     Enter Sunday after naps. She handed me her plug, I looked at it and- Yup. Holes! Adam said I'd better talk to her about it-she has a certain way she likes things to go, and goodnight the girl can flip out if it doesn't go her way! She's 2, after all. So we had a little chat, about how there were holes in this plug too, and it needed to be thrown away or it would get all yucky and make her sick. I told her she could have it for 2 more nights, then it was going in the trash and we'd go to the store and she could pick out a "big girl" present. (Yes, I do bribe my children. It works very well, too!) She looked a tad worried, but agreed. For the next few days, she told us constantly how her plug had holes in it and in 2 more nights she'd throw it in the trash and go get a present. Great! Maybe this will be easy!

     Fast forward 2 nights. After having me carry her out to the big trash so she could chuck the last plug in herself, I piled the kiddos in the car and headed to the closest super Target. She had told me she wanted a bracelet, so we were on a mission. Except she picked out a Hello Kitty watch instead. We looked down every toy isle, at lots of jewelery...she saw lots of pretty things she thought she wanted "and the watch". But every time,  I reminded her she could pick out one thing-and she returned to her bright pink Hello Kitty watch. (I got Adam a super nice watch for his birthday-may have something to do with it. She's totally a Daddy's Girl.) After lunch, she was all set for naps-until she asked me for her plug. When I reminded her it was gone-not so happy. I put her down with snuggles and hugs, but she still cried and screamed for the first 45 minutes, and then didn't nap. Okay, so maybe not so good after all. But that night, she slept like a champ. And she napped beautifully the next day. In fact, other than skipping a couple of naps the past 2 weeks and getting up a little earlier than usual (which means she's up reallllly early...good thing we've trained the kids to stay in their room and read quietly until 6:45. And mostly it works beautifully, too...Mama doesn't handle it so well if the kiddos are up and running before I've had a chance to brush my teeth. Or, you know, drink coffee.) she hasn't looked back or asked for it at all. So fantastic! She just wants her pink Hello Kitty watch at bedtime now. Apparently a bright pink watch is just as comforting as a plug. Go figure...and please pardon the food on my daughter's face. Sometimes, it's fun to remember things as they really were, and not photoshop it all away.