Sunday, August 17

Sweetly Sympathetic

Lately it seems that Alexis has been almost desperate for a pacifier. She's been crying, whining, searching, and longing for a beloved "binky." Each time she's gone on a tiny tirade, I've found it to be very VERY odd. She gave up the goods well over a year ago. While she didn't do it in a manner that could be called willingly, she survived and no one was injured. There are currently none in the house (as far as I know--those darn things breed like rabbits, though, so I expect to find them under the couch and in closets when we finally move in a bazillion years). For months now, I haven't been able to figure out why she suddenly was in desperate need of something that she hadn't cared about for so long.

In contrast to Alexis giving up paci without too much of a fight (there is a very good chance that I have just blocked the drama, just so we're clear), there is a little boy in daycare who is a few months younger than Alexis and has been fighting the war kicking, screaming, and with more dramatic flair than a bald umbrella-carrying Britney Spears. There have been several mornings that I've walked into daycare and have seen him standing in the middle of the room in the midst of a Category 5 meltdown. He's been fighting the war with dedication for weeks already, to the point that I wouldn't be totally shocked if he still is sucking on a pacifier when he gets his driver's license. He. wants. his. binky.

On Friday, Alexis and I were wandering through Wal-Mart (Side note--Dear Target, please open a store closer to my house. Love ya! Thanks.). As we took a quick glance at some clearance junk in the baby department, Alexis started in with the binky pleading.

"I want binky," she said.

"No," I replied.

She retorted, "I WANT PURPLE BINKY!"

A meltdown appeared to be just around the corner. In a rare and random moment of genius, it dawned on me that I should just ask her why shy wanted the stupid binky.

"(Insert little boy's name) needs a binky!"

What charges would be filed if we aided and abetted a pacifier addiction?

42 comments:

  1. Not sure what charges would apply, but that is one of the cutest darn pictures. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. awwww, she just wants to help!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. And how did it all end?

    No purple paci I presume. Gosh. I love alliteration.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wait, you don't have a Target nearby. Okay, reason #43 to be SDBaby'sMom.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The cool thing about kids at a certain age is that they can actually explain what they're wazzing out about and then you can solve it before they totally go atomic in the middle of a store. Good for her for being empathetic and good for you for knowing to ask her what was bothering her.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Solidarity. She's got it goin' on, your girl does. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. How sweet is it that she wanted it for him! ha ha ha Unless she's sneaky smart using him as an excuse!
    ah, the binky wars!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous7:40 AM

    Maybe Alexis can get Emily to take to her paci again - she has rejected it in favor of her thumb... :-(

    ReplyDelete
  9. That is just the sweetest thing! She is feeling empathy with a fellow toddler, and he's on her mind! That's one special girl you have there - Peace - D

    ReplyDelete
  10. Classic enabling.

    She's not allowed near us during Bippy-Gate 2009. I am NOT looking forward to that.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous8:20 AM

    She's cute and all, but as AndreAnna said, she's not allowed near us, either in a few weeks. Unless, of course, you want to wean MY kid off the paci and I'll take YOUR kid for a week or a month. Whatever ;)

    I love that she wanted a paci for her friend at daycare. So sweet.

    Great picture :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I think toddlers get nostalgic. Our four year old was looking through a photo album and came across a photo of him with a pacifier and holding his blankie. The blankie he still has, the pacifier...no. He got the saddest expression on his face thinking about the good old times.

    Being the good mother that I am, I pulled a diversion: I skipped to our vacation photos at Disney World. There...much, much better.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous8:58 AM

    You know she's going to take over the world one day. One pacifier needing boy at a time.

    ReplyDelete
  14. The adorable here? It knows no bounds.

    I anticipate armageddon when we finally put the binkey kibosh down at our house. T-minus a month and counting. It's going to be ug-ly.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Ha!! She's probably thinking, for the love of Pete, will somebody PLUG THE HOLE!?" We were in a major theme park this summer and I saw this girl, she must have been at least 6, was grossly overweight & was sucking a binky. I felt like just standing there and looking at her. What on earth? There's no excuse for that.

    ReplyDelete
  16. It is hard to wean them of the binky, the boob, and the bottle.

    *sigh*

    Just give her an extra cuddle or two. She'll make it.

    As for that kid...you think he'll have one at graduation?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Did she want it for herself or the little boy? Darn cute either way. But no, don't give in, you've won the war so far, this little battle will soon pass.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous12:02 PM

    If I ever go to jail for anything, I'm totally calling Alexis. Because she's the only one I'd trust to love me enough to bring me contraband goods.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Oh man...the pacifier melt downs. I've witnessed a few of those. I'm so glad I didn't have to go through that--Alex never *really* took to a pacifier and we took it away at 4 months of age.

    That picture is WONDERFUL! I absolutely love it!

    ReplyDelete
  20. How sweet!! She's thinking of her friend!!! That's so cute!!

    ReplyDelete
  21. How undeniably precious, Alexis wants to give him a binky...what a caring, compassionate child. I have ONE like that (note that I have TWO girls but only one with loving giving caring thoughts about strangers).

    And you are an extremely observant mommy, to see the withdrawl symptoms in someone else!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Aw she was trying to help the kid out!!! Careful she may get put in the paper: Toddler smuggles multiple binky's into daycare to help suffering friend".

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous3:41 PM

    I think that's adorable. Way to help out your boyfriends, Alexis!

    ReplyDelete
  24. What a nice sentiment! And isn't it a relief to know she didn't want one for herself?

    ReplyDelete
  25. Alexis and I are meant to be friends I think. She and I classic enablers.

    And I love your moment of clarity when you finally asked her why she wanted one...such a seemingly easy solution. And yet those moments seem to happen for me so rarely.

    LOVE LOVE LOVE the picture. She gets cuter every day. You know that, right?

    ReplyDelete
  26. I think she just wants to accessorize. Afterall purple is the IT color for the upcoming season. She's a smart one, that Alexis.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Oh, I am so afraid of that with the Kid. He never took a binky, and now I have bought a couple for the baby...just in case. I would rather have that than he use my boobs as a pacifier like the Kid did...and now he has a ring pop and he is coming in here telling me "look mommy, I have a binky" ugh.
    Very cute water picture!!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Ooooh, she's too good that one. You are in so much trouble. You know that, right?

    I think perhaps I have said this to your before, evem more than once. sorry if I am being redundant.

    ReplyDelete
  29. She's such a cutie pie, and what a sweetheart.

    I'm thinking meltdown boy's mom might just put a hit out on ya if you aided and abetted this particular addiction, I'm just sayin' :-)

    We just got the news we're getting a Super Target and Hubby's wallet started crying. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  30. Gage did that too.
    He hadn't had one in over a year, and found one in the back of a cabinet. Daddy took it away, and Gage found it again. He HID IT in his diaper & took it to his grandmother's house. as soon as he THOUGHT he was alone, he popped it out & put it in his mouth. That was the last time he ever had one.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Gage did that too.
    He hadn't had one in over a year, and found one in the back of a cabinet. Daddy took it away, and Gage found it again. He HID IT in his diaper & took it to his grandmother's house. as soon as he THOUGHT he was alone, he popped it out & put it in his mouth. That was the last time he ever had one.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Ahhh. What a sweetheart. You know when I first started reading I thought maybe you were pregnant and not telling us, and she was regressing.....

    ReplyDelete
  33. Oh goodness - that's the sweetest story ever!

    ReplyDelete
  34. is it bad to say I saw that ending coming? just seemed appropriate that A wanted to help her little friend get what he wanted.

    BTW, Gavin was a hardcore binky baby and didn't give it up until after his 2 yr molars came in around 2-1/2 yrs old. Then we just bribed him with a fancy Thomas train only to be had at naps and bedtime. Worked like a charm.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Wow! How sad is that that the little boys binky withdrawal is affecting the other kids. I don't blame Alexis for wanting to help him with his habit. It sounds like she just wants some peace!

    ReplyDelete
  36. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Anonymous12:54 PM

    We are currently going through binky hell. The boy is obsessed, believe me. We tried to take it away...but it was the worse 15 minutes of my like! ha! No really, he is really really bad. Like, I wish there was some sort of binky anonymous, bad!

    ReplyDelete
  38. Anonymous3:30 PM

    Thats so sweet, she wants to help her little friend! Sometimes little kids just see things different from grown-ups. She sees him crying and thinks, "WHY WON'T THEY GIVE THAT POOR KID HIS BINKY? Fine, I'll just get him one myself."

    ReplyDelete
  39. Just stopping by (DAMN IT - sorry) while at Panera, and that is totally sweet! Awesome that you have taught her to be a good friend already. (well, a good friend shouldn't aid anothers "habit", but still)
    Empathy is a hard one to find in ADULTS these days, so I applaud her. (clap,clap,clap,clap)

    ReplyDelete
  40. Aww ... she's empathetic. Me as a kid? I would have been like "Dude - shut it. It's over. Get over it."

    I can't help it. I was born a biotch.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Anonymous11:16 AM

    Yep. Daytime weaning of Bun is still difficult (especially since Daddy is not on board in the morning). And if she see another kid with a binky. forget it. Is meltdown level 5 the highest? because it seems to me, she's at least a 7.

    ciao,
    rpm

    ReplyDelete
  42. Awwww, what a sweet and tender heart she's got. I love her so much!

    ReplyDelete