Gracie stopped using her binky on Friday, March 18th. I was convinced it was going to be a struggle but to my surprise it wasn't a major ordeal...
THANK GOODNESS.
The last day for her binky went like this...she was really busy playing with several friends on what turned out to be THE DAY...so I went with this strategy...I told her that she didn't need it while she was playing that morning and later when were driving over to another friend's house I "forgot" to take it, mostly because I didn't want her falling asleep in the car at 3 pm. She played and played all day with her friends and never asked for it and once it was time for bed, that little ole' green binky sat on the back corner of her nightstand. If she would have asked for it or made a fuss at bedtime - I probably would have caved and given it to her. But she didn't ask...so bye bye binky. The next morning, she asked Todd for it but he managed to distract her with other things. She only asked a couple more times during the day and that was that...the end of her binky!
We told her how proud we were but we didn't make a huge deal about the binky being gone. We took her to Toys 'R Us so that she could pick out a very special big girl toy. I was pushing for one of the power wheels cars (I had always wanted one) and after she test "sat" in every power wheels car at least three times...she opted for something else. She is her Daddy's girl because she chose a cost conscious sports set. She got a soccer, lacrosse, hockey set & goal. She absolutely could have had the power wheels car because I certainly would have bought it for her - while I said giving up that binky was no big deal...to me, it really was a big deal and I think she deserved a BIG present in return. But really, to a 3 old year, it wasn't about the best or most expensive toy...it was about us just making her feel special and loved.
It was a very bittersweet transition for Todd and me. While we could not be more proud of her, we're also a little sad that our baby is not a baby.
She's...a big girl!
