Bye, Bye Binky

Staying true to his dental professional roots, Rob has been persistent in reminding me that now that Connor is 2, it is time to say goodbye to The Binky.So for months I've been trying to determine the best way to separate boy from binky. I imagined us all sitting in a circle like an episode of "Intervention", with someone starting by saying, "Connor, your family is here because they love you, and they think you might have a problem with the binky...". I researched the "Binky Fairy" story on the web, which is basically the Tooth Fairy for pacifiers, and bought a new toy car and had an elaborate "binky gathering" ceremony all planned. But on Saturday night Rob suggested as we were putting Connor down that we just put him to bed without it and see what happened. I hadn't considered going cold turkey with the binky, and I had doubts about the success of that strategy, but I went with it anyway. And with the exception of a few plaintive, "Where da' binky go?" questions, he did great. There have been some tough moments since then, like last night when he cried for 10 minutes at bedtime, saying over and over, "Wanna' my biiiiiiinkyyyyyy!!!". It was one of those moments as a parent you dread, because you know you're doing the right think for your kid in the long run, but in the short term all you know is he's crying and all it would take to stop him is to pop that little plastic peacemaker in his mouth. And he's been dragging his favorite stuffed dog & giraffe with him everywhere, which makes me wonder is he's afraid if he lets them out of his sight we'll take those away too. I know that he'll forget about Binky by next week, and that we're doing the right thing by taking it away now, but I have to admit it makes me a little sad to give up the binky. Its just more evidence that he is getting bigger everyday, a little closer to being a boy and a little further away from being a baby.
So, fairwell to Binky, we hardly knew ya'.