Broken Binkies!!!

I finally did it. After weeks of deliberating over it and stalling for as long as possible, I finally caved and decided it was time to say good-bye to the binkies. I am aware that such a topic might not exactly qualify as a super entertaining read, but seriously, I just have to get this off my chest.

So, after spending yesterday morning gathering all of the many displaced binkies throughout the house, I carefully snipped the tip of one of them and placed it in an obvious location where Noah would surely come looking. Surprisingly enough, he suddenly became quite content without his one true love and it took a couple of hours before he realized he wanted one. Let me just tell you, folks, that it is indeed possible to break the heart of a two year old, and I'm fairly certain that I just did it. The poor boy popped that pacifier right into his mouth without even noticing the lack of silicone on the tip! And if you could only have seen his face!!! Immediately his forehead crumpled and he pulled it out to investigate what could possible have occurred. He appeared so confused that I went to kneel by his side and explain that his binky must have "broken" and that it was time to throw it away. He finally noticed the little stub that had been lying there, and picked it up, trying to reattach it to the binky. He looked up at me with these imploring eyes, and asked me to "fits it!" I contemplated getting the tape out just to really drive the point home and merely for the entertainment of watching him try to suck on a binky that was all taped up, but didn't think I could manage it without laughing, so I opted not to. For the next hour or so, I tried to convince Noah that it was time to throw the binky away. He would slowly set it in the trash can, take two careful steps back, and then come rushing back only to yank it back up and stare at it longingly in his hands. After a few episodes of this, he finally threw it away once and for all and promptly forgot about everything. You'd think that would be a good thing, but as it turns out, it wasn't so great. When I said "forgot about everything" I mean literally... he forgot about the entire incident. Every 30 minutes or so, he'd come asking for a binky as if expecting me to reach into my pocket and hand him one. I'd have to replay the whole thing for him. "Don't you remember, Noah? The binky broke. You had to put it in the garbage. Remember?" Insert crumpling forehead and confused, betrayed look now. ALL AFTERNOON!!! We must have done this a dozen times!

Well, as it turned out, bedtime wasn't nearly as hard as I expected it to be. He went to bed really well without the binky and so far today hasn't been too bad either. He still comes asking for a binky every once in a while, but he doesn't act real surprised when I remind him that there are no more binkies to be had. All-in-all, I'm glad I did it the way I did. If you've ever heard Shayla's binky story, it's very similar to this one and she's actually the one who gave me the idea. Although, from what I remember, she actually did grab the tape, which totally cracks me up, by the way.

Alright, enough about my binky ordeal! One more time, though... can somebody please remind me why we have children? And why I'm actually trying to have more?!?