The Mami Fairy

Around our house we have a little thing called Mami's, well Alex has a thing called Mami's, or in other words her pacifier. I am not quite sure why she started calling it this. But it has been a mami for some time now. I never gave Lucas a pacifier and I fully intended to do the same with Alex. But you see, we ran into a problem when she was quite young. She would act like she wanted to eat about every hour and then she would spit up everything as it was too soon. Really she just wanted something to suck on, so a paci became a necessity for her. Before we knew it she wanted it all of the time. During the day, at bedtime, and especially if she was sad or got hurt.

We had our rules, like no mami's outside, no mami's at the store... but yet it still seemed to be all mami's all the time. When people saw her with it I would hear "She still has that thing" "You don't need that thing" as they would take it out of her mouth. Now I must admit that really annoyed me. Don't you think I know she doesn't need it. Don't you think being a mom is hard enough I don't need your unsolicited advice.

Alex wants her mami! We finally gave in.

Mami's, or excuse me paci's are funny things. Since Alex took them wherever she went we would suddenly find ourselves not able to find them. She would take them out to put them in toys or just spit them out when she was playing. We would hunt and hunt but sometimes they would just disappear. We began to make sure we always had at least four in the house. Yet, slowly after time we would have to buy more. This was starting to annoy me. Then the straw that broke the camel's back was when Alex began waking up in the night as her mami would disappear in bed. I would desperately search in her bed, around her bed, under her bed while she cried for her mami. We tried to resolve this by putting a pile of mami's in her bed. I told her if she woke up not to call for me but just to find one herself. This worked... most of the time, except for when all four would somehow end up on the floor.

So I decided it was time. I really was tired of waking up in the night and I didn't want her to be one of those five-year-olds that still has a mami. So I began talking with Alex about the Mami Fairy. I told her the Mami Fairy was going to come and would bring a present for Alex if she would give up all her Mami's and throw them away. Alex had four Mami's at the time so I told her all four would be thrown away. The week went on and I continued to tell her about the fairy. We were now down to three mami's as the red one disappeared. Saturday morning came, it was time. Eric and I picked out a new teddy bear, her lovey, and a cute play purse complete with pretend makeup and money. When it came time for the Mami Fairy to come we could only find one. We decided to go ahead anyways. Alex happily put her mami in a garbage bag and began playing with her presents. We knew the real test would come that day at nap time.

We put Alex down for her nap, she asked about her Mami once and we reminded her that the Mami Fairy had come. She seemed to accept this and before we knew it she was asleep. She didn't cry or complain we could not have been more happy. Why had we not done this sooner!! We were very proud of ourselves for how well things went.

A couple of hours later Alex woke up from her nap. Eric went in to get her and she had a Mami!! Not just any Mami either but the red one that had been missing for a week. Where had this come from?? Eric asked Alex and she told him the window. In our home we have shutter blinds and one is close to Alex's bed. Apparently she had stored this one away for safe keeping when I began talking with her about the Mami's Fairy.

One of the shutter blinds in our house

Well this one was put in the bag with the others. And unfortunately bed time did not go as good. We heard her opening her blind looking desperately for that mami. She woke up four times in the night, sometimes wanting wrapped up, one time even wanting a book, and asking for her Mami. What we were in for?

We are now on day number three. I am happy to report that last night she went right to sleep, did not wake up once in the night and no she did not have any more hidden mami's.