Goodbye Bear and Monkey

As you may know, Henry has some loveys that he is VERY attached to. They are little blankets with animal heads on them - Bear and Monkey. He started sleeping with them when he was 4 months old (I strongly encouraged this use of a "transitional object" for him, because he was an atrocious sleeper for a long time). They worked very well - he slept much better with them, they calmed him down and comforted him when he was upset, and they pretty much went everywhere with him.

The trouble is that Henry sucks on them, and essentially uses them as a pacifier. If he has Bear or Monkey with him, it is in his mouth. They get really gross easily (necessitating frequent washing, and the reason we have so many of them), he tries to talk with them in his mouth (doesn't work), and it was just a problem in general. At his first dentist appointment the dentist told us he could already tell Henry's teeth are shifting because of the habit. If Henry had used an actual pacifier, there is no way I would have let him get to almost 3 and half still using it. So, we knew we had to lose the lovey, as hard as it is (for all of us!)

I took a wimpy way out. Instead of a cut and dried "you are a big kid now and don't need to suck on a lovey" tactic, I went with the "Lovey Fairy". Yes, I am THAT mom. A few weeks ago we went and had Henry pick out a new lovey, one that he couldn't suck on (he picked a stuffed giraffe), and today we went for it.

Henry spent some time decorating the package to the Lovey Fairy:



Then, he gave a last hug to his Bears and Monkeys:


Packed them up:


And put them in the mailbox to be delivered to the Lovey Fairy (Henry wasn't keen on the idea of a fairy coming to our house, so we mutually decided that the postal system was the way to go):


I told him I was very proud of him and what a big boy he is, and took him for cupcakes (can you tell I am feeling REALLY guilty???)


Then, we played at the playground for a bit and jumped off a lot of things.


The idea is that the loveys will go live with the Lovey Fairy, and once a few nights have gone by of Henry sleeping without Bear and Monkey, she will give him a gift in exchange for the Loveys (I didn't make this up - people do it. Guilty people)

So far it is almost 9:30....and Henry is not yet asleep. Wish us luck!