Dummy Finally Gone with the Easter Bunny!
It Just HAD to Go.
Thank goodness for the Easter Bunny, at least where dummies and two-and-a-half year olds are concerned! Once the dentist warned us to get rid of the ‘dodie’ before Gemma turned 3, we made a plan to send them off with the Easter Bunny so that he, she or it could ‘give them to babies with no dodies’. This suited us fine and anyway, I can’t bear to see older children with them – I think they just look silly.
There was to be no backing out, regardless of the consequences. The Easter Bunny would give her a big chocolate egg instead, and this plan kept her happy until it suddenly dawned on her that there was no refund policy on this type of exchange! The dodies were gone and that was it. I think it was more difficult for us over the previous couple of months, coming to terms with it. I feel strongly now that it’s not really the child that becomes addicted, but the parent, as was the case with us.
The Time Had Arrived.
So last Sunday morning was the time. We couldn’t face doing it the night before, since we were going out and knew we would want the sleep! It was whipped from her on Sunday morning and quickly replaced with a chocolate egg which she promptly got stuck into (at 8:30am).
Sunday night arrived and the real test began. Several requests for “my dodie” were ignored until I finally had to remind her that the Easter Bunny took it because she wasn’t a baby any more. Protests of “me, small girl”, as opposed to the ‘big girl’ that she likes to be called, didn’t cut any ice with me but made me smile. Then there was her daddy’s explanation that babies were people who said “goo goo ga ga” and her serious response was “me say goo goo ga ga”.
Success!
Roll on an hour and she was finally asleep, having reluctantly accepted her fate. We had 2 seemingly lengthy incidents of wakefulness during the night, with requests for her dummy. Today, she (surprisingly) slept in the creche without it, telling her carer that the Easter Bunny had come to collect it and we are very hopeful that the worst is over.
Fingers crossed for a restful night tonight!
Noelle x
