bye bye binky bye bye

When Parker gets upset with life, he manages his stress by throwing his binky as far as he can. It's of little consequence to me, since I'm quite ready to be done with the thing. So, I always just say, "Bye Binky!" and walk away. Then Parker will scream and scream, "Sorry Binky! Sorry Binky!" and then we will go get it. I know, it's ridiculous! But this is our routine.

I needed to use the library on campus on Tuesday and so I put the kids in the stroller and hoped that they would fall asleep by the time I got there so I could go in quietly and unnoticed. Parker wasn't having it. About 20 extra minutes and a dozen binky throws later, he finally caved and went to sleep. I was POSITIVE that I picked up his binky the last time he threw it on the ground before we went into the library. But, when I went to give it to him on the way home, I couldn't find it anywhere. We went back and retraced our steps with no success. The pacifying device was no where to be found.

With delicate explanation, and two-year-old reasoning, we have come to peace with the loss. When Richard came home, Parker ran to him and said, "Binky all gone! No throwing! Bye Binky!" I'm sure Dr. Phil would be pleased. Bedtime was surprisingly smooth. A little heart breaking for me, since he was so sad, but being so tough and big about it. Then 3 am came with the screaming banshee fits, and I felt like I was on Super Nanny, but without the Super Nanny.

We have made it through two nights and it seems to be going good. He still looks out the window repeating, "Binky gone binky gone binky gone no throwing binky gone..." but his tantrums have stopped. Now we can finally be rid of this dependence on pacification! All I have to say, is Thank Goodness for Patty!