Heen no more

We've had a major accomplishment in our house this week, Kyle has completely and entirely given up his heen -- his pacifier. A long time ago the process began, limiting pacifier use to the house and the car, and then it was not allowed to leave the house. Sometime in the spring or early summer we limited pacifier use to naps and bedtime. Giving it up entirely, I worried, was going to be a struggle.

Beginning on Saturday I began talking to Kyle about Santa and his elves, and we read The Polar Express a number of times. I shared with him that three-year-olds with pacifiers got baby toys for Christmas, but if Kyle let the elves take his heens and give them to the babies around the world, he would be able to get big boy toys for Christmas. I drove home the point by letting him know that Cranky the Crane is a big boy toy... which is what he talks about wanting for Christmas every day.

Saturday night the elves brought the movie The Polar Express, and left Kyle a letter that they would be back for the heens Sunday night, and would leave another present. We talked about it several times on Sunday. Kyle went to bed, and I rounded up pacifiers. As I went to bed I took the last one out of his mouth, and hung a present on the headboard.

In the middle of the night I woke to, "Where's my heen?" in my ear. I led Kyle back to bed, and reminded him about the elves taking them. His lower lip came out and his eyes filled with tears; my heart broke. I pointed to the present, though, and the tears immediately left and my boy was smiles again.

Now here is a tip if you ever try this: A singing and dancing Christmas penguin is not a gift you want to introduce at 3am.

Now, three days later, Kyle is 100% pacifier-free. Other than asking a couple times if we could simply buy more, Kyle seems to have forgotten about them. I am so proud of him... and relived that it was so easy for all of us.

And heen, you ask? Before Kyle was talking he used to sign pacifier and please. Then at some point he decided to walk over to the corner of the kitchen where the pacifier basket was and perform a long, drawn out whine, "HEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNN." When this became the norm with Kyle I told him that I was not going to respond to the whine anymore and he needed to ask nicely, so he started saying, "Heen, please." :-)