For the last few days, Sydney has not wanted to go with Miss Vanessa when I drop her off at school. This morning was no exception. She clung to me and buried her face in my shoulder when Miss Vanessa approached. Vanessa said, "She's probably mad at me because I keep taking her pacifier. I won't let her have it at naptime anymore."
OH! Well, I sure wish they had told me that they were withholding the pacifier. That explains why Sydney has suddenly become very possessive of her pacifier at home. We limit its use to naptime and bedtime. She brings it out of bed with her in the morning and sets it on the kitchen counter. It stays there until it's time to go back to bed. She is usually very good about not asking for it during the day. But lately she has been wanting it at weird times. We know that she has a molar ready to break through, so I thought that was the reason. Now it turns out that her school has decided that it's time for it to go.
Pacifiers are not allowed in the 2 year old room, so Syd has to give it up by her birthday no matter what. October seems like a long way away, so I haven't been pushing it. But if her teachers want it gone, I want to enforce a consistent message. When we got home from school today, I decided that Sydney and I needed to have a serious talk about the pacifier. We were sitting outside waiting for Mike to get home and I said, "Sydney." She immediately pointed to herself, thus verifying that she was in fact, Sydney. "Yeah. Sydney; we need to have a talk," I said. "You're getting to be a big girl now, and big girls don't need pacifiers. You need to start going to bed without it. Only babies need pacifiers, and you are not a baby anymore. I think it's time to give your pacifiers to a baby who needs them." She listened intently, then got up and started spinning in the driveway.
Later that night, while we were playing in the living room, I broached the subject again. As soon as I started talking about the pacifier, she went into the kitchen and came back with it in her mouth. "Sydney," I said, "do you really need that? I think we should give it to a baby who needs it." She gave me a long, hard look. Then she took the pacifier out of her mouth and gave it a long, hard look. Then she handed it to me. Then her lip began to quiver. Then she just melted. I hugged her and she sobbed and sobbed. It was like I had taken away her best friend.
So I gave the pacifier back. Rome wasn't built in a day.