The Excitement

“I want to tell Mimi the excitement. Cause it happened to me,” Adi’s voice declared from the backseat of the minivan on our early morning drive to drop the girls off at my Mom’s house. This statement was meant for her older sister, who often likes to be the one to broadcast family news.

The “excitement” began the day before, during our lazy snow day. Adi sat relaxing on the couch and asked for her pacifier, which all of my children have called a Bobo-a name stolen from their cousins. I seized the moment and said, “Adi, you’re almost four. I’ve never seen a four year old with a bobo. What do you think?”

She gave me the side eye, the way only a middle child can. I smiled sweetly while in my mind I played through all of the problems with the bobo. We missed the ideal window for getting rid of the thing. I had been pregnant with Rose and then Rose was born…That bobo had saved my life, sanity, and already fragmented sleep more times than I care to admit. We had tried to get rid of it before, but it takes a strong person and up until today, I wasn’t feeling that strong.

But she took the bait. “Fine,” she said a little too much like a teenager might. “I’ll TRY to sleep without my bobo today.”

I gave her a high five while in my head I was thinking, “Yeah right! Just wait for bedtime. She’ll be crying like a baby for the bobo.”

But as she got ready for bed, I reminded her that she was going to try sleeping without it and while at first her eyes filled with sadness, she picked up her chin and headed up the stairs towards her bedroom. Halfway up she stopped,”But will you lay with me?” she asked. I could see where this was headed, trade one bad habit for another, but I could’t say no. This was big stuff for a girl who had come to find comfort from the plastic mouth plug her entire life.

As she settled into bed, I asked her, “Do you think you’re ready for the Bobo Fairy to come? Because I can let her know. I’m sure there is a little baby who needs that Bobo more than you do.” Again I was greeted with the side eye that quickly turned to her sad eyes.

“Ok,” she whispered cuddling up in her bed. After her routine of singing the day away ended, she finally quieted down. I listened,waiting for the quiet evenness of sleep to come, praying that she wouldn’t turn back and beg for her Bobo.

Sleep came and I tiptoed back downstairs.

“She went to sleep without her Bobo,” I announced to Arnauld as I took her Bobo off the kitchen counter and clutched it to my chest.

He looked at me as though I was pathetic. No big deal in his book.

There was no turning back. I channeled my inner fairy, wrote a note in disguised handwriting, and went searching for the loot I had stashed for this very moment.