Growing Pains, again

I decided today that it was time for Jeriah to grow up. He's four on Tuesday, and to me that's old enough to go without a blanket, which will in turn (hopefully) keep him from sucking his thumb. The logic with this is he only sucks his thumb when he's holding on to his blanket, so take the blanket away and ta da! No more thumb sucking!

That poor appendage (his thumb, not his blanket, though we could go into how bad his blanket is too) is a shriveled mess. He complains that it hurts when it cracks and bleeds, yet he continues to abuse it multiple times a day. He talks about not sucking his thumb, on occasion, but when it comes right down to it, he just can't keep that thumb from his mouth.

His teeth are suffering. When he smiles you can see how his teeth are forming so he can fit his thumb in there. His top teeth have an arch to them which forms the perfect gap, the perfect size for his mangled thumb.

So, today, I sat him down and talked to him about how four year olds don't have blankets anymore, and he's about to turn four so he needs to say goodbye to his blanket. He agreed, not really knowing what he was getting himself into. I folded it up real nice and Jeriah gave his blanket a hug and a kiss and I put it somewhere safe so it wouldn't get hurt.

Then it was time for bed.

He did really well while we read the story, said our prayer, and sang a song. He told himself over and over that there is no more blanket because he's growing up. I was proud of him for that. And then the real "Time to go to bed" part happened, and he tensed up. He had no idea what to do with himself, how to relax, and he whimpered a little. I said goodnight and left the room.

I didn't hear anything for a few minutes, and then the whimpering started getting louder and louder until it was obvious that he was trying to get my attention. I decided to be nice tonight and go in his room. He asked for everything he could think of, OTHER than his blanket. That told me he was really trying to do this. My good brave little boy was really going to attempt to sleep without his blanket! I guess a little fibbed peer pressure works.

Well, after going into his room multiple times to say "No" to most of his requests, I did say another prayer with him, told him he could do this and I know it's hard, but he's growing up and sometimes we have to do things that are hard, gave him another hug and kiss, and then the clincher...

"Now, listen. I cannot come in your room again tonight. You can cry and call out to me all you want. You go right ahead. But I just can't come back in. You are going to have to work it out. Heavenly Father will help you if you ask him to, but I'll see you in the morning. Good night."

I didn't hear from him after that. Something about telling him that he can cry if he wants to takes all the fun out of it for him, and he never does.

So, here I sit, a proud Mama, because my little boy went to sleep without his precious blanket. Which means he probably went to sleep without his thumb as well. It's a double whammy, and he made it through!

Moral of the story:

• Lying to your children can sometimes be a good thing - Namely that when you are four you can't have a blanket anymore. I just made that up, if you didn't know that already.
• Telling them they have permission to do something they thought was manipulating you, really throws them off - Like saying he could cry if he wanted to.
• Hugging and kissing and encouraging and praying really works when you are trying to stick to your guns.

I love being a mother. I love getting to know the personalities of my children, not only so I can exploit them in order to get them to do what I want, but because I know what is important to them, and I can help them feel like they are accomplishing things in life. We will see how it goes tomorrow during nap time and bedtime (I'm not expecting Jeriah to take a nap tomorrow), but he's taken the first step and when his birthday comes we will be able to celebrate his accomplishment as well as his age.