July 8, 2012

The Big Farewell …

July 5th was marked a huge milestone at the Lee house.  After six months of build-up, our almost three year old Owlie boy said goodbye to his pacifiers.

I stole a genius idea from my brother and his wife and started telling Owlie months ago about babies out there who didn’t have “pacis”.  We would talk about the babies, whether or not they were sad, if they might possibly be crying, and how having a pacifier would help them to be happy.  These conversations usually happened at night while I was snuggling Owlie in bed and he was contentedly sucking on a paci.

After two months of talking about the babies, I made the suggestion that maybe Owlie could send some of his pacis to the babies.  He didn’t love the idea, but consented as long as he could keep some.

A few more months went by and I proposed that since Owlie was getting so big and there were so many little babies without pacis, maybe he could send all of his pacis to babies who didn’t have any.  He agreed. But then changed his mind. Then he agreed again. And about two weeks ago he decided with finality that it was a really horrible idea.

And yet, we went through with it.

The perfect mode of transportation for pacis to get to babies, as everyone knows, is by helium balloon. I let him go with me to the party store and pick out the balloons he wanted.  We brought them home and tied the pacis on and had a little farewell photo shoot.

The whole family was there to mark the occasion, my big boys in baseball uniforms ready to head to the game, the rest of us cheering the little guy on.  When he was ready, Owlie marched himself and his balloons down our little stretch of yard.

Then he paused for the camera and said a few choice words. “I sending my pacis to the babies now.”

And then he let go and up, up, up they went.  As he watched them rise up into the sky, he yelled out, “Thank You Pacis!” And the rest of us giggled quietly and gave him plentiful hugs and kisses.

Before we knew it they were just a speck in the sky and my baby had taken one more step towards being big.

13 comments:

Apis Melliflora said...

Cute. Cute. Cute.

May he embrace big boy sleeping and not look back!

The Queen Vee said...

Good-bye pacis, hello big boy underwear. There's no stopping time. Loved the pictures.

Margy said...

Oooooh! Way to go Owlie! I hope he's still sleeping well at night for you!

Dan and Bec said...

That is a great idea! Abby turns 3 next month and will be saying goodbye to her pacis too.

AllisonK said...

What a sweet little guy!! This is a great idea and the pictures are darling!

christy said...

Adorable send-off!

Kernal Ken said...

I wonder what the babies and their parents think when the pacifiers coming falling out of the sky onto their roofs and lawns?
The EPA probably has some sort of regulation on this practice. The Nanny State must ensure that the skies remain pristine under the Clean Air Act.
TSA and the FAA will also be concerned, since air traffic may be involved.
Better destroy all this photographic evidence.

MelancholySmile said...

That's so cute! I'm sure I'll have to steal this idea when my R gets big enough... not that that will ever happen. He's going to be my baby forever. Right? :)

Bells said...

That' s precious! I remember when Kelsey offered up her binkies on a Christmas plate under the Christmas tree to the Christmas fairy, who would also distribute them to babies in need of binkies. It was so hard for her! For years we couldn't talk about binkies because it made her miss them! She did get a little stuffed dog w/ a Santa hat from the Christmas fairy, which she still has.

Aiketa said...

This is such a cute way to say goodbye to this pacis!
Here is so usual that little kids give their pacis to the helpers of the Wise Men during their parade on the night of January 5th. For the kids is a way to prove to the Wise Men that they are no longer little kids. Here we don't have Santa, we have the Wise Men... so it's such an important thing what the Wise Men think of oneself.

The pictures are adorable. I love the first one and his smile!

Tobi said...

What a kind way to get rid of the paci's.

I get rid of them and make my kids suffer all kinds of trauma. Therapy will certainly be in their futures.

Anonymous said...

What a sweet way to let go of paci's! I even got a lump in my throat knowing how difficult it must have been for Owlie and seeing his siblings being there for support. thanks for sharing this with us

squeezeme said...

Congratulations Owlie on this big step! We are rootin for ya and this next phase of big boyhood!