Sneaky

A good binky story...

We eliminated the binky but I thought it would be good transition-wise to keep it around for sleeping only. This has worked well for one of Maggie's playmates. I was strict about this though and explained to Maggie that the binky could only be used while sleeping and that it would remain in the crib when she wasn't. The process of eliminating the binky in this way at age 26 months has worked incredibly well.

Maggie was proud to show everyone that she was a big girl and that she could only have the binky when it was naptime or night time and she has become increasingly less dependent on it since we started this. It's really great to watch (especially when she was so (annoyingly) attached to it before :-)). It's a love/hate thing for parents.

Maggie has been learning how to open and shut doors, including her own and we've found that sometimes when she shuts her door she really does want to be in there alone for whatever reason. Maggie has been well aware that the binky resides just within her reach if she sticks her skinny little arms through the slats of her crib.

One morning, Michael heard her door shut and then silence. Too much silence in our house (with a toddler) is bad. So, he goes to check on her and finds Maggie reclining in the rocking chair all relaxed, reading Jamberry, with the binky in her mouth. The second Michael opens the door and sees this, she looks like she's been caught red-handed and quickly takes the binky out of her mouth like nothing was going on and hides it behind her back.

While this had happened with me previously, I hadn't mentioned it to Michael. So when this happened, he ran in to tell me what he's just seen and it had us cracking up! What can you do but smile and laugh at your sneaky but precious 2-year old? I love this stuff.