Real Life Wednesdays : Dummy Confessions
For Real Life Wednesday a few weeks back I shared my sock confession, and today I feel the need to confess yet again.
This time I am talking about something a tad more controversial than sending my kids to school wearing odd socks, today I am talking about the ‘dummy’.
Dummy, pacifier, plug, soother… or as it is known in our house at the moment ‘Dun’.
It seems my smallest loves his ‘Dun’ as much as his siblings did and there is no end in site for that love affair.
I am ok with that.
I am ok with the various reasons we chose to give each of our children a dummy. I am ok with how we used it when they were small and how it was/is used as they got bigger. I am even ok with the fact that they took a long time to be ready to give up their dummies and that it will be a while yet before Noah is ready to give up his.
I am ok with all of that… but I really hate the way it looks.
I rarely, if ever, share a photo of my kids with a dummy in their mouths. I just can’t bring myself to do it.
That beautiful photo up there of my peaceful sleeping baby (oh I know he is not a baby any more but humour me ok) is ruined by that horrible, but very useful, glow in the dark dummy shoved in his gob!
The fact that I dislike the look of them so much may suggest that I am not as ok with the whole dummy gig as I think I am.
Perhaps I have deep seeded parenting guilt about giving my kids a dummy and I am just kidding myself when I spout about how ok with it I am? Perhaps I really regret that decision, perhaps I am in total denial about that regret?… though I really did think I ditched the dummy guilt after the first two kids, but maybe not.
But guilt or no guilt, denial or no denial, it is what it is. The ‘dun’ has been part of our lives, our real lives, on and off for the past nine years and I am not hiding it any longer!
What about you?
Got anything in the back of your closet that you’d kinda, rather keep secret, but that you know you’ll feel better if you get over yourself and share it?
What does real life look like where you live?
Last week my life was a mixture of gratitude and insanity, and I could so relate to this lovely Real Life Wednesday post from My Little Bookcase. And this post from Mama Miss is just freaky… how do you reckon she broke her foot in her sleep!?!?
So what is happening in your life that is so imperfect that it is perfect? Share with us those little moments that make you laugh, or cry, that keep you grounded and remind you how lucky you really are… the real life moments!
Write a blog post or even play along via instagram or twitter with the hashtag #reallifewednesday
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Link up to Real Life Wednesday below…
He is definitely a baby, because if he isn’t how can O be, turning 4 next week? LOL
I can understand you preferring a picture without it, so you can see all of their beautiful faces but I don’t have any reaction at all seeing one in a picture, it’s very “neutral” for me. In fact it is like part of babyhood I remember from my nephews and niece when I was young that never quite took in my parenthood, like fluffies pilchers and those chux looking nappy liners!! Warm memories :) I am kind of glad in retrospect the kids didn’t take to the dummies I offered, because I realises once O was older and attached to his cars it is a PITA having an emotional dependence on an object that goes missing. But with little sucky babies I think it is a great kindness for many of them to get that need met if for some reason the boob can’t be there or doesn’t work unless they’re hungry.
I felt the same way about my eldest using a pacifier. I was so afraid to share picture of him with it in his mouth. Accidentally one got out and my sister freaked on me for using it. Well, that thing saved my sanity! It soothed him like magic. It was a challenge to get it away when it was time, but it happened and he survived. My youngest, wouldn’t touch one!
For what it’s worth I think that photo is adorable, and wow, a glow in the dark dummy? Wish I’d had one of those back when we R was using them. Would have saved some fumbling around in the dark for sure!
We’re a dummy household too. I remember feeling like the biggest failure when I had to give Diva a dummy. As irrational as it was. But I think, like you, there’s this nagging guilt factor.
And as for the photo above. I’m so glad you shared it. He looks like an angel. So peaceful. Just gorgeous. X
Aww, so cute! Even with a GITD Dun
My 2 year old LOVES his ‘numna’. I think they are a wonderful, soothing thing for babies. As long as you don’t replace listening to your child, with using a dummy, and as long as it doesn’t interfere with their speech, where is the harm? (besides that patch of time as a baby where they have trouble finding it in the middle of the night!)
Both of mine had dummies and both are now thumb suckers. I’d rather they weren’t but it is how they comfort themselves, so I’m ok with it. And I dont think they’ll still be doing it in Year 9!
My kids didn’t let their “pacis” go until they were just under and just over 3…and that may be long by some standards, but there was no pain and no stress. One day, I mentioned that they were getting older, and each one of them took it out of their mouths, placed it in my hand- and even when I offered it at times, they rejected it. They were completely ready on their own- and that worked for us. :)