Bye Bye Nuk

Our 2nd day in the hospital, Wes was being a little fussy and the nurse asked if we would like to give him a pacifier. "Um, ok, I guess", and the love of the Nuk was born. We called it his Nuk because that is what my mom called my brothers (and I think Chris's family used the same term), even though Wes's preferred brand was actually Avent. Long before he could talk, he used the sign for pacifier to adamantly demand his Nuk. Wes LOVES his Nuks, and really so do I. It was always an instant soother, putting him to sleep many times and drying many tears. I also didn't have to worry about him sucking his thumb because it was Chris's theory that we can take the Nuks away, but we can't take his thumb away. But...could we take the Nuks away? Would he ever sleep again? Would he ever forgive us?

Now that Wes is 3 years old and potty trained, he is officially a big boy and we thought it was probably time to kick the habit. For about the last year, Wes was restricted to only having his Nuk at naptime and bedtime, we hoped this would make going "cold turkey" a little easier. He also has his Mankys, which are Gerber burp rags that have become blankets. He never used to care which Manky he had as long as he had one, but if you let him go in the drawer and pick he would always go for a car printed one first, and if that wasn't available, a stripe print. Just recently, he has decided that he needs 4 Mankys at nap and bedtime, 2 car and 2 stripe, we hoped his Mankys would help smooth the transition.

We woke up in the morning and I told Wes that he was a big boy now and didn't need his Nuks. I told him that we needed to mail his Nuks off to "poor kids" who were still 2 years old and needed the Nuks. He helped me hunt all over the house to round up all the Nuks, we even found a few under his bed. He helped me pack them in a box and address them to "poor kids". We then went to the post office, waited in line, and mailed them off. Wes even told the postman that he was a big boy now and didn't need his Nuks and was mailing them to "poor kids". We then went to Toys R Us to pick out a big boy toy. Wes chose a Cars Megablocks set and spent the rest of the morning playing with it.

Would this really work, I wondered? The true test would be nap and bedtime. Naptime came around and I read Wes a story and tucked him in with his Mankys. He looked at me and said, "Mommy, where's my Nuk?" I gave him a look and asked, "Where are your Nuks, Wesley?", "At the post office", he conceded. He asked the same question at bedtime, but other than that there was no fuss. What a big boy!

In case you are wondering, we did not mail Wes's used Nuks to any "poor kids". We actually mailed them to Grandma Dee Dee, because I don't think anyone actually wants Wes's used Nuks and I would like to have one bronzed for a Christmas ornament. I'm just going to let the fresh wounds heal a little before I do that. I also have some brand new Nuks that I actually am going to send off to "poor kids".