Adventures in Parenting

There are some things you do as a parent that you know you shouldn't, even as you do them. Usually there are things that make your life a bit easier for a second, and involve giving in to your crying, screaming child. You decide that now isn't the time for a life lesson, a major change, or harsh discipline in a public place. I have a few of those items, but the main one was that we still let Claire have a pacifier at night. She is three and a half, and I had been meaning to take it away for at least a year and a half. But deciding which night's sleep you want to give up is hard when you have something going on every morning, every weekend, etc. So, the "pacer" (Claire couldn't say pacifier as a baby) stayed. The older she got, the more mommy guilt I felt, but then I'd think - she'll take it away herself someday. But that day just wasn't coming.

We heard several techniques for taking a pacer away from an older child - give them to the pacifier fairy, who then gives the child a gift for the pacifier they take;the pacifiers to a new baby who really needs them. That was the nicest method. The others involved cutting the tips off the pacifiers and giving them back to the child who just gets frustrated with sucking on a stub. And another was to put screws in the little holes on the sides of the pacifier and drill it into a wall. If the child wanted to suck on the pacifier, they would have to stand in that spot and face the wall. I knew I wanted to do the Pacer Fairy, but just kept putting it off.

Finally, one night a few weeks ago, I was having a dream where Coldplay was giving me a private concert in my living room. Chris Martin was staring into my eyes when Claire started crying and woke me up. It was 3 AM and she couldn't find her pacifier, which was sitting right next to her on the bed. I was so upset in my half-dream state that I decided enough was enough - this pacer had to go!!

So, get a look at some of the big girl presents the Pacer Fairy brought Claire - Little Mermaid jewelry, nail polish and lip gloss that she picked out. She still asks for the pacer now and again, but its been about a week and she is doing great. Now, I need to learn my lesson for Miles, and take his away now too... maybe another day.