She’s been saying that she would throw her pa in the trash when she turned three, but then the other night she told me that after she threw it in the trash, I would get it out and put it in a baggy and then she could have it. (I had saved a couple of her pacifiers from a while ago when she had “thrown them away”, and she found the stash) so obviously, throwing it in the trash really didn’t bother her. She was confident that she would get it back soon! She is way too smart for me.
So then Diane, Megan B’s mother-in law, suggested sending it in the mail to another little “baby girl” who needed it. I thought this was a great idea and this way Ella would know that her pa was really gone for good.
So the night of her birthday, I put her to bed and told her that it was her last night to have her pa. This is when she told me she would put it in the trash and then I would get it back out in a baggy. I suggested to her instead that we give it to another little “baby girl” who doesn’t have a pa but really needs one. She was very hesitant and didn’t want to do it. First she told me, “But mommy, you can buy pa’s at the store!”. So I told her this little baby girl didn’t have the money and so we needed to put Ella’s in the mailbox and send it to her. Then she said, “But mommy, that baby is not in the mailbox!”. And so then I reminded her how we check the mail everyday, and that yes, you are correct that the baby is not in the mailbox, but she will check her mail and get the pa. So, Ella was starting to come around to the idea.
The next morning I asked her if she was ready to write the letter and send off her pa. She asked me, “Mommy, is that baby girl crying?”. I thought this was really sweet as she was starting to understand what it meant to give her pa to someone else that really needed it.
So first thing, we headed downstairs and wrote the letter. Ella enjoyed the process and was excited when she had the finished envelope in her hand. We even had a 1cent stamp for her to use.
As she was putting the pa in the envelope I said "bye bye pa". She repeated it immediately after I said it, but then she said it again in a real sweet sincere voice.
I got teary-eyed watching her do this. I have been SO ready to get rid of her pacifier, and I know its silly, but it has been so important to her for 3 years, and this was just yet another sign that she is growing up.
After breakfast, we were headed to Sea World, so on the way we stopped at a mailbox for her to drop it in the mail.
Michael and I were proud of her. Such a sweet little girl she is.
As we drove off I looked at him and said "That was the easy part. The hard part will be when we are back at home and she is tired or cranky."
Well, so far so good. We had a long day at Sea World and she fell asleep in the car. She woke up when we got home and so I went to lay with her to help her get back to sleep. She was pretty out of it and went straight to her room where she normally keeps her pa. When she didn't see it in her bucket, she just crawled in bed. After a while of not falling asleep, she finally said "I want my pa!" I reminded her that we didn't have it anymore. She just busted out in tears "But I want it!". She was so sad (and exhausted) so I just held her and told her it was okay to cry. I let her know that giving away her pa was a really hard thing to do and that it was perfectly okay to be sad and to cry about it. I just continued to tell her how proud of her I was and held her tight while she cried. She eventually stopped and all was okay. She didn't nap anymore but we had a good and happy afternoon.
Last night when I put her to bed, she didn't ask for it and was great the whole time. We prayed that her pa made it to the little baby girl and that was that. She slept great all night. I hope for many more "easy" nights this week!
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