God Bless the Paci Fairy

It was time. Time to say goodbye to the blessed pacis that had comforted Natalie since she was a newborn crying in the hospital. At 26 months, she'd already been without pacis for naps at school for 10 months. And she'd never had them during the day at home, with the exception of desperate times at church when nothing else would keep her content. And now that the transition of bringing Gavin into the family had gone so smoothly, yes, it was time to send the pacis on their way.

I'd seen a great idea on the Super Nanny show a few weeks ago about a "paci fairy" who collects pacis from big kids during the night and brings them to tiny babies around the world who don't have pacis. I watched as Jo hyped up the whole process for a three-year-old boy and it worked, really worked.


Here it Goes!

I figured it was worth a shot with Natalie -- better to make it a fun process for her with a reward at the end, than just dump the pacis in the trash and tell her to cope.

So we tried it out two nights ago. Cold turkey. No going back. Jason was nervous (and to tell you the truth, so was I), but we decorated two bags and bought some gifts. When Natalie finished her supper that night I jumped up from the table and started telling her all about the paci fairy. I showed her the special collecting bag the fairy had sent to our house and I popped in a paci we'd kept in the diaper bag. She looked all excited! It was working!

We headed to her bedroom where the beloved two pacis rested in her crib.

"Now, baby, put these pacis in the bag," I said excitedly.

She popped them in, all wrapped up in the process.

Then, it hit her. Her smile drooped and she froze.

"My pacis," she said. "My pacis."

"Oh, you're a big girl now. You don't need them anymore," I coaxed.

We headed with the bag downstairs and out the front door. Natalie placed the bag on our front stoop, ready for the paci fairy to pick it up in the middle of the night. We came back inside.

"Now the paci fairy will bring your pacis to babies who need them," I said.

"I need my pacis," she said again, her mount turned down and eyes big.

"But you'll get a big girl present in the morning. A BIG present!" I coaxed.

"More pacis?!" she beamed.

No one said this was going to be "easy."

Self Help

Later than night, I said prayers with her and tucked her in, reminding her that she had her babies, books and blanket and didn't need her pacis. In fact, she didn't even bring them up and snuggled in. But about 15 minutes later, she started softly crying. I stood outside her door, trying to decide if I should go in.

"My pacis....my pacis..." she whimpered.

[Stab my heart a little deeper, Nattie...]

But then, "My toys..." she cooed, followed by the sounds of her babies' hard plastic limbs bumping up against each other and the crib rails.

And then, "Big present...big present..."

I couldn't believe it. She was talking herself through the process! Like a tiny little pyschologist, she was telling herself how she could cope with the loss!


Happy Ending

In the morning, we bundled Nattie up and led her outside to find a huge gift bag on the steps. Inside, she discovered a new baby, stickers and an Elmo pet movie. She didn't seem overly excited about the presents and doesn't really like to talk about the paci fairy, but more importantly she hasn't asked for her pacis nor stolen brother's.

So, I raise my mug of decaf to the wonderful paci fairy who has made it just a little easier on Natalie - and the rest of us - as she grows up. Now, if there was just a diaper fairy!