Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

It finally happened – Cash's pacifier bit the dust tonight.* It already had a little hole in the nipple and just before bedtime tonight, Cash stuck his finger in it and it ripped wide open. I became aware that something was up when I heard heart-wrenching sobs coming from Cash's bedroom. I went upstairs and Travis told me what had happened. I took Cash in my arms and reminded him that we had told him a few weeks ago this was the last pacifier. When it was worn out we were done. He was so pathetic, talking in a soft voice, trying to hold back the tears. I told him he could have an extra bedtime story tonight and that if he made it through the night, we would have chocolate-chip cookies for breakfast tomorrow morning. That seemed to make him feel better. When I tucked him in, I put all his stuffed animals close around him so he would feel like he wasn't alone. He sleeps with a small army – bunny-bear (a bear in a bunny suit), two dinosaurs, a teddy bear, a bunny and a duckie. Hopefully, this will all be harder on me than it is on him.

*Yes, I realize that Cash is way too old to still take a pacifier but as a former thumb-sucker myself I couldn't bear to take it away from him. I'm convinced that my grandparents slapping my hands whenever I put my thumb in my mouth as a child is what caused me to become a smoker later in life. I don't smoke any more though. Stop judging me!