The Paci

Even before EJ was born I was adamant that she was going to take a pacifier. Hope refused to take any kind of pacifier and believe me, we tried EVERY kind available. Hope was a thumb sucker. I worried about what it was going to do to her teeth. I worried about all the germs going straight from everything she touched into her mouth. There was a period of time when I worried she would go to college sucking her thumb. It was right around that time that I thought, "if she only took a pacifier, it would be so much easier to get rid of than the thumb". You can just take a pacifier away, right? You can't just get rid of a thumb. So, as I said, EJ had to take a pacifier. I know pacifiers aren' t the greatest thing for teeth either, but you can just take a pacifier away. Right? We forced her to take it as a newborn, holding it in her mouth until she had no choice but to start sucking. It was great! She'd take the paci and fall asleep. If she woke up at night, we just gave it back to her and off she went, into dreamland. Up until the last couple of months, that was the only time she wanted it, when she was going to sleep. Now. . . well, um . . . I'm afraid we've created a monster . . .

She wants it in the car . . .

She wants it when she's relaxing . . .

She wants it when she's playing . . .


And though this is not a regular occurrence, it really scares me:



You can just take a pacifier away, right? Easier said than done. By the second kid, I know not to worry that she'll be taking it to college with her. And I'm way less critical when I see big kids walking around with pacifiers hanging out of their mouths and when I see kids throwing fits in public, and when I see kids with mismatched clothes and shoes on the wrong feet but that just comes with being a parent. Maybe one day she'll decide that pacis are for babies and she'll give it up. Or we can have the "Paci Fairy" come and leave a gift and take all the pacifiers away. Or the "Twiddlebugs" may come and chew holes in all of them, like they did mine years ago. But not now. For now she's still my baby and I'm glad she has something that can help her comfort herself, even if it is messing up her teeth.

For the record, Hope will not be going to college with her thumb in her mouth. When she was 5, she decided she was ready to give it up, and she did. Just like that.