Both Cameron & Gracie have LOVED, LOVED, LOVED their "binkies". When Gracie was about 3 1/2, we talke to her about being a big girl and not needing a binkie anymore. She was really sad at first, but we told her if we put the binkies in a bag and tie it the tree, the Angels would fly down from Heaven and take them to the babies in Heaven...SOLD! She hung those binkies one night and never asked for them again. Whew! Cameron was a little (alot) more attached to his binkie. We tried the dwindling down on usage, not having it at nap times or in the car, etc. His 4th birthday was D-Day! We did COLD COLD turkey. We did the same we did with Gracie. We talked to him the importance and the milestone of his turning 4. We are on the cusp of becoming a "big boy" and there are babies in Heaven who really need binkies. So, he sucked each one as he put them in a bag and said goodbye. It took him a long time to finally go to sleep. The next morning he ran down the stairs to see if his bag of binkies was still on the tree. It wasn't, the Angels had flown down from Heaven. His beautiful little eyes had these big tears fill them and it broke my heart. Thankfully, the Angels left him a little present. The next few weeks were extremely hard and painful. But we stuck to our guns. Things seemed to get a little better and better. About a week ago, he started asking for his binkie again. He cried how much he loved his "roundie roundie". That's what he called his favorite one. He's been crying and crying and crying and crying and crying...(see what I mean). So today I thought I would print out a picture of his "binkie" for him. Dear Lord, what did I do??? That's what I have been asking myself all day. I tried to explain to him that it's ok to be sad and miss his binkie. Those are his feelings and we understand what he is going through. I showed him other pictures and explained that pictures are moments of happiness we capture. I don't know if he got it or not but he did stop crying. However, he is now carrying that darn picture everywhere. Did I just create another little monster? We'll see...
We love you so very much Cameron. We will get through this! I promise.
Love Mommy and Daddy
