I'm a big girl mommy and yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus......

The words I thought I would never hear came in the form of a sweet little whisper from my Sweetie Pie: "Mommy I'm a big gurl, I not need no paci's!" What? Did I just hear those words? It has been a struggle(probably just as much for me as it was for her!)over the past few weeks, but we have managed to take away Sweetie Pie's paci! I was beginning to doubt this could be done. It made me think of little Virginia and how she wondered if there was a Santa.We tried cutting the tip of the paci off and giving her the paci and this worked....for a little while! She would magically switch the "broke paci" as she called it to a perfectly normal paci and how? I have no idea! The things they do never cease to amaze me! So after a few days, the "broke paci's" would disappear and new ones would appear. (This is a trick that I am certain Harry Potter would be proud to call his own!) So we are back at square one...again! Sweetie Pie is now two and we decided to bring out the big guns! That's right, we have decided to use the "you're a big girl just like your sister" tactic. Boy, where we wrong...again! (And the Marine Corps just thought they trained daddy for everything!) This worked during the day but come time for a nap or bedtime, nope! She so proudly informed us that she was not a big gurl and that she was a baby and needed her paci! Well now. What next? We decided to back her off her paci instead of quit cold turkey. So for 2 weeks she napped with no paci and woke up so very happy that she was a big gurl! Then there was still bed time. We were very happy to give her the paci at bedtime because, well....we were exhausted!(What can I say? You pick your battles and sleep just happened to win this one!) The boy was in the middle of cutting teeth and we were having a couple of rough days(Sweet Pea was sad that a certain rabbit was missing that no one has seen in well over a year or longer. And we all know how dramatic she can be!)so sleep and a few hours of quite where worth giving my two year old a paci! Then last night came and she so proudly announced once again that she "was a big gurl and I not need no paci" and to my amazement she went to sleep with no paci! I rocked her for maybe five minutes and holding her dolly she drifted into a sweet sleep. She was right she was a big girl and she didn't need a paci! So just as Virginia needed reassuring that there was in fact a Santa, I needed reassuring that I would survive the paci ordeal! Thank God Sweetie Pie is a big gurl and maybe, just maybe there is a Santa Clause....JFowler