…but it actually worked for us. As most of you know, Chickpea turned 3 a few days ago. And, well, we’ve been having paci battles for most of this year. Okay, so it’s been for most of her life.

She was one of those babies who loved her paci from the beginning. And I don’t mean a I’m-upset-can-I-have-a-paci-to-calm-down? love for her paci, it was a ravenous, debilitating love for the thing – where she would get antsy if we left the house without it. Well, we managed to have her semi-weaned by 18 months of age, wherein she only “needed” it for naps and at night.

Enter our Life of Chaos.

When she was about 20 months old, we moved out of our place and started our whirlwind season of life on the road. We slept in 26 beds in five months, traveling all over the country getting ready for our life overseas. The paci gradually crept back in to her daily life, because it was just confusing to explain that it really was nap time, even though she was in her car seat and it was broad daylight. Before we knew it, the lines of daily routine got rather fuzzy, and the paci was back.

We moved two weeks after she turned 2, which is obviously not a good time to suddenly wean her of the cherished thing. So we let it be. And then 2007 became THE Year of Chaos of us, and paci weaning slid further and further down the list of priorities. But by the fall, things calmed down a bit, and we decided we really needed to end the dependence. “Needing” a paci was purely habit. It wasn’t a need.

So by the fall, the paci was demoted back to a sleeping-only accessory, for the most part. And we decided to cut her off by age 3. Which, as you know, was a few days ago.

I have a point. Really. Bless you if you’re still reading this.

So here’s what we did – and I fully admit that we did not come up with this idea. I read about it somewhere on the internet, and I can now no longer find the link. (If it was your idea, let me know, so I can credit you.)

The Paci Fairy came a few nights ago (or, as Chickpea calls her, the Paci Tooth Fairy).

On the night of her 3rd birthday, the Paci Fairy visits a little girl’s home to collect all her pacis, so that she can deliver them to babies around the world who need pacis. In return, she leaves a gift to the child who graciously gave up her beloved pacis for these babies.

So Chickpea put her pacis in a little gift bag, and we left it outside our front door. The next morning, sure enough, the Paci Fairy had taken the pacis, and in return left a big new canister of Tinker Toys. How generous of her!

We admittedly have had to remind Chickpea of her paci’s whereabouts whenever she asks about them. She has a look of disappointment when she remembers. But other than that, it’s been surprisingly easy. She’s asked about them less and less. So far, she hasn’t brought them up today.

I’m sure this has to do with the fact that she hasn’t really “needed” the things in quite some time. It’s just a matter of creating a new habit of paci-less sleeping. But it was still a bit emotionally difficult for her, since those pacis were her friends that have gone all over the world with her.

So there ya go. It’s corny, it’s over the top, it might even be a little unnecessary… but it worked for us. We’re glad we did it.

posted: 08 February 13
under: family