Monday, October 16, 2006

Nuk

Emrie has slept with a Nuk since she was an infant. It's like magic. You pop it in her mouth and you can watch her eyes fight to stay open. Though it has incredible up sides we've wanted to wean her for some time but during Amy's sickness the timing just didn't seem right and now, in the wake of her death, we've wanted to be sensitive to the stress Emrie is dealing with.

That's why when the opportunity presented itself to take it away, I jumped on it. It was actually my absent mindedness that afforded the "window". Friday we had plans to spend the night with my sister and her kids. Well, when I was packing our overnight bags I forgot the cherished Nuk! I broke the news to her when we were half way to Cincinnati and of course at lunch time the furthest thing from her mind was sleep. Her response was, "Daddy, it's okay. I can try to sleep without it." I was relieved.

But...let me say that I underestimated the power of the Nuk. Friday was rough, Saturday was even worse, and Sunday night I thought I was going to have to perform an exorcism!

In light of my dilemma, my mom recommended that I offer an incentive to lessen the blow so tonight I told Emrie that if she was successful this week I would take her to the store and she could pick out any kind of lip gloss she wanted. This brought a smile to her face. She loves lip gloss, however, it usually finds its way on not only her lips but the lips of her baby dolls.

Praise God, tonight she went down without a tear!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

That took courage! And, you did it! sticking to it is the hardest. I think that's why people give up on parenting. It's not easy. But, it has immeasurable rewards. No fuss bedtime is marvelous.
-Sheila

gretchenhs said...

We are dealing with the same type thing in our house. It's that blasted sippy cup that basically has the end like a Nuk. We have good nights and bad, but mostly bad these days! We are also working on potty training and people keep telling me I probably shouldn't do them both at the same time, but I'd rather her be miserable all at once! haha Parenthood can sure be hard sometimes!!!

Sandi said...

Good ole mama! Praise the Lord, Brenda is such a kind and wonderful woman. I am happy to have her as a friend and sister-in-law.

Lip gloss is a good trade. If it gets on clothes, try a dab of CALGON LIQUID b4 washing. I love that stuff, good stuff, and doesn't hurt my allergies. FYI