End of an Era

I have blogged before about the love affair Rhys has with his soother (or as we call it, his DeeDee).

I used to tell myself he could keep it until he started chewing through them. That day came and went, and he didn't seem ready to give it up, so we caved and bought new ones for him. We had him down to only needing it at night to sleep, he didn't have it for car rides anymore and he didn't nap during the day anymore.

Then, shortly after Christmas, the day came again. BOTH his DeeDees had holes and were chewed to hell and back. They were starting to look very unsafe. He would put it in his mouth to suck, grimace and proclaim 'My DeeDee is broken!'.

So, I decided it was time to take the plunge. Time to rip this bandaid RIGHT OFF.

Me: Well, Rhysie, the stores don't have anymore DeeDees, so if they are broken it might be time to be a big boy and say good-bye.

Rhys: But Mommy...I need my DeeDee to sleep!

Me: Then you can have your broken ones. They are the only ones left. But I bet you could sleep without if you tried. Want to try for one night?

Rhys: No....

Me: If you sleep without your DeeDee tonight, you can have a remote control car in the morning...

Rhys: Okay! Good night, mom. See you in the morning.

And that was that.

We are on day four without it. He still asks for it and I remind him 'remember, you are a big boy now and you gave it up'.