JBird loved the bink but gave it up at 2 years old all on his own. I think once he saw TBone (a newborn) using one he figured it was for babies only. He put it in his little side table drawer one day and never got it out again.
TBone produced a bit more of a challenge. He was nearing 3 years old and I was getting sick of it. His front teeth didn't touch when his jaw was clamped down and he sounded ridiculous talking with it in his mouth all the time. Gty came up with a plan (he thought it brilliant at the time & thought it was a sure failure). He started to saying to TBone everyday "So, you're birthday is coming and you're going to be THREE! Three year olds can't have binkis. So when you turn three... no more binkis!" or some variation thereof. And every time I'd give Gty the "there is no way that is gonna work with this kid" look. But then Jan 25, 2005 rolled around and Gty's plan worked brilliantly! TBone gave us his binkis and never looked back. (I wonder if that would work with Pokemon...."Hey TBone, you know Pokemon is not for 8 year olds..." Yeah no.)
Anyway, now we have the Beebs. Not stubborn in many other ways but crazy attached to her binkis. As you can see by these pictures (which took me mere minutes to find) it has been ever present in our lives since her birth.
This brings us now to the beginning of December. I was the one to come up with the brilliant idea this time. Truth be told I had heard of this somewhere before but I remembered it at the perfect time. ::ahem:: I decided that we were going to get a visit from The Binki Faerie. One day I mentioned TBF to Beebs to gauge her reaction. I told her how, if we went around the house & put all her binkis in a box then left the box out in her room at night, then TBF would come & take her binkis and leave her a special surprise. Beebs listened to my story (with a binki in her mouth) and seemed less than interested. Kind of a thanks-but-no-thanks reaction.
I was shocked when she came to me the next day and said she wanted to leave all her binkis for The Binki Faerie. I re-explained how it worked (i.e. you'll have no more binkis...they will be gone... forever) just to make sure she knew what she was getting into and she still wanted to do it. We eventually gathered about 15 binkis (ridiculous!), left them out and TBF actually came! She left Beebee a cute Snow White Polly Pocket set. Beebee was excited. For about an hour. Then she wanted her binkis back (a common reaction of detox, I hear). After I told her the binkis were gone forever and we couldn't get them back, she had some choice words:
"The Binki Faerie is meeeeeean!"
"I don't like The Binki Faerie."
"I want to trade back."
"Let's call her." ME: "I don't know her phone number." BB: " I do..it's 7,8,9,10."
"Let's go to her house" ME: "I don't know where she lives." BB: "I do...she lives in Merica."
"I don't like this Snow White anymore. I want my binki back."
"Let's go to the store & buy more binkis!!" (said very excitedly, btw)
These types of things were said for a good two or three days. Over and over and over. And over. I stuck to my guns though, you gize. Never wavering. And then around day three, she stopped asking about The Binki Faerie. She stopped thinking about her binkis in general.
BeeBee Landerson has been binki-free since December 12, 2009
::said like at the end of Intervention::
It's crazy to me how these things work. But I'm so glad they do. Kids just need a little motivation sometimes. What's weird is this has made her less attached to her blankie as well. It's like they were a package deal or something. She used to carry around her blanket and have her binki all day. Now, sans binki, she only wants her blanket at night. It stays in her bed all day. She also isn't that interested in her TV shows anymore. She used to watch Pink Panther, the Smurfs, Max & Ruby, Maggie & the Ferocious Beast all day. Now she rarely asks me to turn on shows for her. The TV is off all day. She plays with her babies & little princesses all day now (even that pesky Snow White one!). Very interesting, if you ask me.
So that's the story of now The Binki Faerie came & saved the day at our house. Now if we could just get the Pokemon Faerie to come.....
17 comments:
I thought this story was great until the last paragraph where you described how beebs has now all interest in everything she knew and loved. Now its just a sad story about a depressed little girl. If I see that Binki Fairy I'm gonna give her a piece of my mind.
Well, lookie what the cat dragged in...Markie Mark! Where the ayche have you been?
But, I disagree. This story (esp. the last paragraph) shows how she is growing up. She has become less dependent on other things to comfort/entertain her & now she does it herself.
Srsly tho. If you see the Binki Faerie go ahead and kill her. How dare she?
I did the same thing to Wini that you did to TBone except that I told her when she is four, she can't suck a binki anymore. It worked and she has been binki free since September 12, 2009. (so basically I won) I find with Wini that now that she no longer sucks her "morphine" (as we called it) she is a spazzy, wild, hyper girl where as before she was calm and mellow. I miss her binki. Sometimes Morgan and I will sneak into her room at night while she is sleeping and put a binki in her mouth just to watch her suck for a few minutes. She doesn't know we do that so please don't tell her.
Congrats to Beebs!!!!
This is a great story for my future since Megs is attached to her paci (we don't use those fake words for body parts either) but our problem is that after gathering up all 15, we would probably find one a week later in the corner and she would get back into it. And we would have wasted the effort for nothing
But let me say how proud I am of you. That must have taken some serious, serious self-control.
I think the binki fairy needed to pony up more than a polly pocket. I mean after all she was sacrificing a lot!
I noticed chubs made the post...all Nathan had to do was kill him psychologically by telling him his teeth were going to be crooked. He had some soul searching binki or crooked teeth. He did get it back for naps though:) Brynnie is too young to give it up for reals. She is the baby after all.
Faeries are freaky. Fairies are sweet. Jespy has ruined you all with her freaky faerie crap.
I can't believe she had it that long!!!
jay kay. ^^Don't you love when people say that kinda crap?
We all have our "heroine". ::gulping my diet bevy as I type::
Only probably with the Pokemon faerie, is that he leaves behind Yugioh cards. Equally lame.
I love binks (as we call it, no fake words in our family either). Cord was the master of binks, he did all these fancy tricks, twirling it around with his tongue at the speed of light, etc. And I loved it when he would dangle it from his lip like a cigarette when he talked to us. We took it away from him right before he turned four without any bells and whistles. Apparently, it was harder for us to give up than him.
Also, I sucked my fingers until I was 8. To quit, I had to have eekareek sleep on my arm one night so I couldn't "use." I try to suck my fingers now and they do not fit the same. Major bummer. Regrets, etc.
^^Only probably<--hehe
Aw, Jespy...you sucked your fingers til you were 8? That's adorable! And explains some stuff. Another piece of the puzzle fit into place.
Annalisa, if Beebs was given that choice she would have chosen crooked teeth cuz what does she care? Doesn't Sam know about braces anyway? And yeah, I think Beebee felt gyped after seeing it was only some Polly Pockets...thus the desire to trade back. Oh well suckah!!
Paci is a fake word. And, thanks for reminding me.... about 5 days after TBF visited, BB found another binki down in the basement. She promptly brought it up to me and said she wanted to leave it out for TBF. The faerie had to come up with a Strawberry Shortcake that Santa was planning on putting in her stocking. Oh well... point is, she for sure knew what she was getting into then and still gave it up willingly.
We tried the "when you're four" approach, too. Didn't work. Although by then, she was strictly a bedtime binki kid (not by her choice, mind you...if I forgot to put it up where she couldn't reach it, she latched right back on). We talked about it for a couple of months before she turned four. And what happened??..she REFUSED to be four for about six months. "I'm NOT four, I'm JUST three!".
My sister told me about the binki faerie, but we didn't warn Meggie. She would fall asleep and the binki would just fall out....so we confiscated it and left $20 with an note about how babies need binkies, but big girls don't, or some other such nonsense. We took the $20 and went to Toys R Us and she picked out a new doll. That night when I put her to bed she said "Mama, I'm afraid I won't be able to go to sleep!!" I told her just give it a shot...she was out in about five minutes.
We LOVE the binki faerie. Although we spelled it "binky fairy", not being as cultured as some people. :0)
Congrats to Beebs and Landee for having such courage. So, so proud of you. It's sooooo hard to give up those baby things cuz it means she's not a baby anymore. I find that so sad. I asked CharChar yesterday if he would stay 5 and not get any bigger. He refused. ::sigh:: Luckily, I can just get another grand child. . . aka Becca's new addition. And then I still have Clara for a little bit longer. Don't be concerned--I still love them fiercely when they grow up. It's just that babies/toddlers are priceless.
There's a Pokemon Fairy??? No way how come I haven't heard of this. Let me know how I can get a-hold of him/her..k
The binki fairy came to our house a few months ago too! It worked for Maddie. She was mad a first, but thank goodness it actually worked.
I kind of don't remember how we took George's plug away, but he was easily 3 1/2. Yes we called it a plug. Or, pug. Anyway - Link gave up his on his own and Sassy did too. Once she switched to a bottle and realized she got stuff out of that and nothing out of the plug, she didn't want it anymore. I've given up my 'heroine' (seriously mourning my non-diet bevvv). Is there a Rt 44 Faerie? Will someone please tell my husband about her?
P.S. Love the teensy pics of Beebs. SO cute!
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