Shifting Gears   Baby Boomer…Member Life 2.0…Wife, Mother, Grammie…Bicyclist…GoldWinger…Mensan…Girl Scout…Reader…Knitter…Rotarian

One lesson I learned in parenting is that you do things differently after the first-born.  With that inaugural child you’re experimenting and so afraid that you’ll do something wrong or mess up that you go overboard.  By time the next one comes along, you don’t have the time or energy to worry about every little thing.  Parenting goes on auto-pilot and is much more laid-back.

I did it – and now Ralph is experiencing it.

Case in point – Lydia’s Binky.  You’d think that the daughter of an orthodontist would never have had a Binky in the first place but such was not the case for either of Ralph and Blair’s daughters.  Julia surrendered hers on her third birthday when Blair took her to Build-a-Bear and the Binky was forever stuffed into Cinderella Bear where it still resides.  Life was a little rough for a couple of days but she survived.

Lydia’s third birthday came and went and still they weren’t ready to bite the bullet and de-Bink her.  To put it mildly, Lydia has a mind of her own and Tammy often comments that Lydia is paying Ralph back for being such a PITA to Tammy when she was younger.

The Binky may have stayed with her until college except it’s starting to affect her speech which meant it was time to go.  We all said prayers for Ralph and Blair and they braced themselves for a long and hard fought battle that was expected to last for several days…maybe weeks.

Once again, Lydia, was full of surprises.  Sure, she cried and screamed for a couple of hours the first night but that was it.  One night was all it took.  She’s made a few comments about her Binky and even asked Ralph “Mommy, will I ever see my Binky again?” but it’s pretty much out of sight, out of mind.

Her blanket – well that’s a whole different story.  It may be hanging on her arm when her dad walks her down the aisle in 25 years!