Monday, May 6, 2013

Bye, Bye Blankie

Well, almost.

Yes, I know, she's seven years old. 

Yes, I know, we should have probably taken it away from her a few years ago.


2008

It was cute in the beginning!



2008


The blankie never bothered me until the last year or so.  Oh, I know others were bothered by it.  I honestly thought she would just give it up on her own.  I mean what sane person would suck on a cotton blanket? Over a year ago we had gotten her to keep it only in the car and our home, but we could see that the attachment was not waning at all. 


2009

I knew we needed to do something but I just wasn't sure what.  I realized, when we were getting ready to go to Mississippi, that maybe this would be a good time to try something. 

We blamed it someone else!  I should say "I".  I told her that Granny thought it was yucky and she needed to keep it up stairs on her bed while we were there. (Sorry Granny)  I really wasn't sure how this would work but I thought that maybe since we would be running around and going for walks and things that maybe it would be distracting enough.  I knew it could also backfire and be worse since she wasn't in her own house and all that.  Thank Goodness, she did great!  I think she only asked once if she could have it when we were all watching TV and when I told her "no" she didn't fuss at all.  I know it was a great effort for her though.  One night when we were saying bedtime prayers, she asked me to pray that Granny and Nai Nai would like her blankie.  (Yes, I think I blamed her other grandmother too.  I'm really going to get in trouble over this!)

So, on the way home I told her we were going to keep doing the same thing at home and if she did a good job and only had blankie at bed time for three weeks then she would get a reward.

This girl loves getting stuff!  I mean we can't go anywhere without her thinking she has to buy something.  So, she went for it.

She did great!!  There were a few rough moments.  There was one day she stayed on her bed for almost an hour because she didn't want to give up blankie and days when she asked for it a lot and really cried, but I am very proud of her!  And us!  There were a few times where it was really hard not to give in to her.  I can be strong against whining for the most part because it's annoying and just makes me mad, but true tears of sadness are hard to ignore.  I also thought the whole thing was going to backfire when she thought she would get blankie back after the three weeks.  She wasn't happy when I explained that would not be the case, but she didn't cry or whine.

So Sunday afternoon Cameron took her to get her reward.  She was very excited.  Callie has a stuffed dog called Boo and Kate has been wanting one too.  All along we told her she could get Boo or a new Barbie.  She had a hard time deciding, but I encouraged her to pick Boo since she had been talking about getting one for months and Barbies are easy to find and would be around for ever.

I don't know about what we'll do to wean her away from blankie at bedtime.  It took 5 1/2 years to get this girl to sleep all through the night.  I'm in no hurry to rock that boat!  Sleeping through the night is a beautiful thing.  I'm sure her husband won't mind too much. ;)

5 comments:

  1. This is what I think I'd do if I were in your situation. When she is not looking snip a very small area off of the blanket and then wash it. When it comes out of the washer tell her it is raveling because it is so old. Repeat this over and over so that the blanket will become smaller and smaller. Eventually it will just be a swatch of fabric. Tell her because it is such a special thing to her and it is falling apart, that she should put it in her jewelry box, keepsake box, etc, to take care of it. Or you could wash it in vinegar or some other bad tasting substance so that she won't want to suck on it. Hope this helps. Matt had a pacifier and it was hard to get that away from him. I thought I had gotten rid of all of them, and then he would find one in the toy box or under the couch. Yuck! I guess cigarettes are his pacifier now. :(

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great job!!! Keep up the good work. She'll get it when she is ready!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hmmm...blankies are so special. I was 17 before I stopped taking mine with me when we went on vacation trips, and my sister was 13 when she finaly put hers away. I never sucked on mine though...I sucked on my thumb, and it took Mom some trying before she got me broke from that habit! :) I'm sure it will come with time.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wait a minute, why are we giving up our blankies?...

    ReplyDelete