Well, it was time. Elayna has been very independent lately and we decided she was ready to be a big girl and say bye-bye to the binkies. We were prepared for today to be awful. I mean, she has been using a binky for sleeping since she was a newborn, and it’s always been part of the routine.
This morning when she woke up we started the day off by telling her that today was a really special Big Girl Day for her and she was going to throw away the binkies because she just didn’t need them anymore. She was excited about it right from the start, and her attitude never changed! Amazing!
We had her put the binkies in a ziplock and throw them in the garbage. Then we took them out when she wasn’t looking, and then had her watch as the garbage was taken outside (she even waved goodbye to the binkies).
Then we told her that, since she was a big girl now, she got to make lots of her own decisions and she also got to pick out a fun toy at the toy store. She liked that (shocker, right?). She picked out her clothes, what she wanted to eat, what color spoon to use, etc. It worked like a charm, and she had a blast with her Big Girl Day. At Toys R Us (still wearing her cape) she picked out new Sesame Street figures as her “special toy” and was sooo over the moon with her “new guys.”
At naptime she talked about the binky for a minute, but mostly to remind us (or herself) that she didn’t need a binky anymore. She fussed for a couple minutes and needed an extra snuggle from Mommy, but she went to sleep with no real crying and very little effort.
Bedtime was even easier. They were mentioned again, but no fussing. It took her a little while to fall asleep, but there was nothing but happy chatter in there before the silence.
What a big, brave, smart, sweet girl we have. Wow. So proud!!! 🙂
Here are a couple pictures of her in her cape at the store. The light was bad and I really didn’t want to pull out the flash, so this is what you get. 😉
