I'm convinced that one part of parenting is eternally
feeling like the bad guy. Yes, it's one thing to feel like the bad guy when
one's kid deserves it.
"Ellie, why did you just throw food on the
ground?"
"I can't believe you just shoved your hand in that
diaper."
"Why are you still screaming? You have been
screaming for 35 minutes straight for no reason!"
"Ouch, you just put my eye out! I was still using
that."
All are good reasons to punish your child and not really
feel like a bad person. However, there are those times where you totally feel
like you're in the wrong even if it is the right thing. In fact, one of those
times totally snuck up on Bethany and I last night.
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| We even had a checklist and everything to help us determine if it was right or wrong... |
As Ellie has gotten older, we've definitely seen a change in
how closely we monitor milestones. When she was younger, we were religiously
checking our parenting app, as well as websites, to ensure Ellie was crossing
off developmental goals. As time has gone on, we've found ourselves to be less
apt to obsess over her milestones. We generally won't even take a peek
until around the time of her next doctor's appointment.
Well, it so happens that Ellie's fifteen month appointment
is on Friday. Therefore, it was definitely time to check on her development.
Once we opened the app, we started cruising down milestones and were feeling
pretty good about our little girl's development (and our parenting skills).
That is, until we reached one particular goal stating it might be time to take
away the pacifier.
Before you judge us too much, keep in mind we already have mostly taken away Ellie's pacifiers.
Yes, plural; she gets one to suck on and one to hold in her hands. As things
currently stand, the only time she actually gets them is during naptime and at
night. So, of course, we figured taking it away wouldn't be too bad. Like the
(un)smart person I am, my bright idea was to go cold turkey/pull it off fast
like a Band-Aid/flat out take it away. As you're a smart blog reader, you
already know where this is going.
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| See, 'Seinfeld' agrees with me! |
We decided the best time to begin this process would be at
bedtime rather than during naps. Our reasoning being that if Ellie is already
exhausted from a long day filled with playing, eating, and stacking cups, she'd
probably just doze off immediately. Yeah, we were wrong about that. As we laid
Ellie down and left the room, we could audibly hear her just talking to
herself. In fact, that would continue for about 10 minutes before the screams
erupted through the baby monitor.
At that point, we made the decision to give it ten more
minutes of her actually crying before giving in. So, we waited. And waited. And
for a change of pace, waited some more. Finally the ten minutes were up and
Bethany ran upstairs to both calm the baby and then hand her a pacifier before
laying her back down. We were ready and prepared to give her the second
pacifier after fifteen minutes if she was still awake. Lucky for us, Ellie
decided to finally go to sleep instead.
I have mixed feelings about taking her pacifiers away. On
one side, it's definitely time. At fifteen months of age, she really doesn't
need them anymore. Also, it'd be nice to have one less to worry about her
flinging from her crib with great intensity. On the other hand, it makes me
feel like another vestige of her babyhood is disappearing. It's just another
thing to remind me that she's growing up so fast and needs to slow down. It
honestly makes me want to cry a little.
Probably because I'm a wimp. #DaddyWrite
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