Last month, we decided it was time to say good bye to the much adored "binky"! You see, Maya has started to assume that becoming a big girl requires using a binky; she never used one as an infant, but has picked up on the talent after seeing her BIG sister take one daily!
So, we gathered all of Lydia's binkies, placed them in her dentist bag, and went to build a bear to say goodbye to her binkies once and for all!
I can tell you now...looking back...she had no idea exactly what building a binky bear would really entail.
She walked hand in hand with Daddy--preferring his presence over mine in this journey!
And she chose a purple bear, in spite of my desperate attempt for her to choose the cute pink bear...or the smurf. But Lydia, named after the weaver of purple in the scriptures, stayed true to her purple desire!
Lydia watched the bear being stuffed...
And then stuffed each binky, one by one, into the bear.
Without hesitation, she even placed the last binky in her mouth into to bears fluffy tummy.
She rubbed it's heart against hers, and did all the little ceremonial tasks you do when you Build-A-Bear!
And then she watched as it was stitched up for a final goodbye...I admit...
I cried...
Daddy helped her wash the bear all clean, and dress it in it's finest linens!
Lydia named her bear, "Binky Bear"!
And we all left hand in hand...
Half way home, after the pretzel and smoothie were gone, she began wondering how she could find her binkies. In silly attempt, she peeked at the back of the bear, and then it hit her...
the binkies were gone.
We stoped along the busy freeway to comfort our sweet Lydia who could not possibly understand why she couldn't have something she loved so much anymore...
She held her eyes, gasped little breaths of air when she could, and just hurt for a long ride home.
To this day, I still feel around for those sweet little binkies she loved day and night...
Miss Lydia changed over night...
It's good...
And it's hard, as change is with your children!
I am happy to say she did smile again at the end of the car ride, thanks to Daddy's loud and fun music!
We all laughed little...and danced a little...
Miss Lydia, you are one beautiful girl! We love you so much!!!
4 comments:
That is such a cute idea! Then she can still always have her precious binks, just in a different way. Cute idea!
I think the kind of pain you felt when you saw your child gasping and crying over the loss/pain is the a type of the way Heavenly Father feels when he watches us suffer, knowing that we must learn.
oh these pictures of her crying make me so sad! but, like your friend Sara said, it's hard not to liken the experience to our own lives. I think the binky bear is a wonderful idea! you guys are such sweet parents.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I am about to help my 2 year old daughter through this. The honesty of your daughter's experience made ME cry!
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