History: Micah comes home from Guatemala and has a couple of stuffed animals in his crib (including a musical giraffe that we gave him when he was 3 weeks old...it was with him in his crib at the orphanage). Somehow a little white stuffed duck with a silkie night-cap ended up in the crib.
Opening argument: Micah started to become attached to the duckie...very cute...he would cuddle it next to his face and suck on the little cap.
Counter argument: It is a WHITE duck that looks more like a platypus (top pic)...and the night cap is a little goofy. If it turns into his "attachment toy" it will not stay white...and I have no idea where to get another if it gets lost!
Solution: I bought a cute little teddy bear (at Target...and I am sure they have them a million other places too, just in case this one gets lost) with a little silkie blankie attached (next pic)
Strategy: Put both little toys in the crib for awhile and let him attach to both..then "phase out" duckie.
Progress: The plan is working well...Micah loves teddy...he pulls it up next to his face and cuddles it and sucks on the little silk blankie and the tag (next pic!!). He gets all happy-excited when he sees it.
PROBLEM!!!!: Brock and Erica and Aunt Dona (our nanny for 8 years now) keep putting duckie back in the crib every time I am not around. They think I am a meanie for trying to get rid of duckie! It has become this game of sorts...I take duckie out of the crib (AND MICAH IS PERFECTLY HAPPY WITH TEDDY) but every time I turn around, duckie has re-appeared IN the crib!
So....what am I to do?? I feel like a meanie if I take away duckie (only because THEY will think I am a meanie...I am fine with it, mind you!!...after all...Micah HAS teddy!!!) but...I received such confirmation a couple of days ago when this little girl came into my office with HER duckie...I think it used to be light yellow, but now it is hard to tell...I was thinking that if only she had attached to a little teddy like Micah's, it would wash up SO much better!!!!! I snapped a picture (with her consent, of course) to "beef up" my side of the argument (last pic)! Think it will work?? Doubtful.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Well this is quite the dilemma isn't it? I am going to have to vote for the teddy because of the replacement issue. That could prove to be very traumatic and it will be YOU dealing with that not Brock, Erica, or Donna, as it will probably be a bedtime issue. However, I must say that it is quite humerous that duckie keeps reappearing! Ha, Ha, Ha! Best of luck!
Ali
I must say, I am SO on Brock and Erica's side on this one. My word. You want to phase out the duckie because it doesn't WASH well? And because you MIGHT lose it? Listen to yourself, girl. I think you're obsessing. Let Micah have his duckie. AND his teddy. And his giraffe. It's not like there's not room in the crib. For crying out loud! (Uh... just my two cents!)
~Stacy
This story reminds me of our Tim...he had this stuffed terry cloth baby boy with blue overalls (a gift from Grandma) that he became attached to around 4 months of age. However, instead of sucking on a cap, he bit the threads out of it one by one on various parts of the body. I won't go into details about where I found the threads! I stitched the little boy back together more times than I can count...amputated a leg or two, reshaped the rump and dislocated his shoulder to brin some repair to him. Over the course of years I proceeded to go through a total of 4 of these babies. Somehow God blessed me with being able to find an identical new one each time when I was the most desperate. Tim is now 13 1/2 and for the most part well adjusted. One of the babies is tucked away in his footlocker here in Thailand,and the others are in storage in Grandma's attic...the irony.
I must say, one thing I have learned is that kids are or can be more flexible than we give them credit for. Sometimes we make decisions deliberately or by default for them based on what is simpler for us...who knows what they will learn and we will learn from a bit of adjusting. Perhaps Tim would have adjusted to something else had I given him the opportunity. I remember Matthew, another son, had to adjust 3 different times to sucking on new thumbs or fingers because he went through a period of warts on the fingers he sucked. Matthew is rather flexible to this day.
As Indy would say, "Choose wisely, my 'daughter'."
Cat
Post a Comment