Susan,
I wish I had read this earlier! I had never heard of a Paci Fairy, and that may have helped me this week. My 2.5 year old is still using a paci to fall asleep for naps and nighttime, and he has enough coping and self-soothing skills now that he can do without it. Instead of choosing the Paci Fairy "lie", I used the method that he would understand: "they broke"! So, I cut the tips off, and when he asked for his paci, I told them they broke. He was sad for 20 minutes one day, the next day was 10 minutes, and now they aren't mentioned again.
I have to admit, I had some mother guilt lying to him and purposefully taking away something I knew gave him comfort, but being a parent is setting healthy boundaries, which a paci is not (except for infants).
So, I guess parenting includes a calculated set of "lies" throughout the child's life, in order to provide healthy boundaries and limits. ??
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Susan,
I wish I had read this earlier! I had never heard of a Paci Fairy, and that may have helped me this week. My 2.5 year old is still using a paci to fall asleep for naps and nighttime, and he has enough coping and self-soothing skills now that he can do without it. Instead of choosing the Paci Fairy "lie", I used the method that he would understand: "they broke"! So, I cut the tips off, and when he asked for his paci, I told them they broke. He was sad for 20 minutes one day, the next day was 10 minutes, and now they aren't mentioned again.
I have to admit, I had some mother guilt lying to him and purposefully taking away something I knew gave him comfort, but being a parent is setting healthy boundaries, which a paci is not (except for infants).
So, I guess parenting includes a calculated set of "lies" throughout the child's life, in order to provide healthy boundaries and limits. ??
April 7, 2009 - 2:15pmThis Comment
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