Sunday, February 14, 2010

Day 45

On Day 3 I mentioned needing to take my son to the dentist.  On day 42, we finally made it to see the dentist for the first time.Sure enough he has fractured one of his front teeth, which is why it has slowly turned grey over the last two months.  The dentist said that the reason his two front teeth stick out so much (which I had never noticed before) is due to his binky addiction.  So yesterday we rounded up all of the binkies in the house (about 7 of them), stuck them in an envelope and mailed them to the "binky fairy".  I was fearful that he would not be able to fall asleep without it, but it wasn't bad at all.  It reminds me of the time when I quit smoking. The first day was uncomfortable but not as bad as I thought it would be.  The second day is always much worse.

Knowing that today would be more difficult, the "binky fairy" wrote a really nice note saying how proud she was of my son and what a big boy he is now.  She was even so gracious as to leave a big, giant jeep that he can drive around the neighborhood.  We were up at 7am running beside him up and down the street.  By 8am we were back and that is when the crying, begging and pleading for the binky began.  This kid wants his binky back.  Specifically he wants his BLUE binky back.  So badly that he is willing to give up his brand new ride on toy and doesn't mind being a baby again.  I told him if he wants his binky back, then he needs to write a letter to the binky fairy and explain to her that he is not ready to be a big boy and that she can come pick up the big boy toy and take it to someone else.

Well, that made him stop to think. "Mom, if I write the letter and send it to her today...when will I get my binkies back?"  I told him he'd probably get them tomorrow.  Once he heard that, he changed his mind and decided to "think about it" for a little bit longer AND we went back outside to play with his new big boy jeep.  Yes! This was exactly the reaction I was hoping for.  By delaying the instant gratification that he gets from sucking on his binky, we were able to make him recommit to no binkies for another day.  I am hoping that within a week he forgets all about it.

1 comment:

  1. Good for you and your son! I'm glad you were able to convince him to lay off his bingy for another day, and to do it while making it "his decision."

    So what DO you want to do as a career? I believe you mentioned earlier that you and hubby kept your finances separate? Have you discussed how that's going to work or not work going forward?

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