Wednesday, March 12, 2008

The Blessing of the Pacifier


What is it about a pacifier that is soo tasty to a baby? Madelynn Joy loves her gucky! (AKA passie, wubby, or a please stop crying and put this in your mouth-ifier) There is no denying that a baby looks cute with a pacifier, but what is it's real purpose? To get technical, the root word of pacifier is pacify, which means "to soothe, calm, or make peaceful". I must admit that this little piece of plastic and rubber has the ability to do just that! The only problem is when the baby looses it, or you take it out for a minute to once again see your sweet baby's smile, it then turns into a "see how loud I can scream, or an upset the baby by taking it out-ifier".
Isn't it amazing that we can become dependent on things at such a young age! When I was little, my very best friend was the thumb on my right hand. Not only would my thumb calm me, but I remember it being a tasty recreation when I was bored! I will never forget my mom promising me a whole pack of chewing gum if I stopped sucking my thumb. Knowing that my second best friend was chewing gum, I remember willingly taking my thumb out of my mouth the night my mom made this promise. Besides a couple relapses, that was the end to my close friendship with my right thumb. I do occasionally still look down at my thumb and wonder if the pack of gum was really worth it, but I guess all good things must come to an end! Maybe Madelynn will stop using her pacifier when her mommy offers her a little something as a reward for stopping. Until then, I guess Kelli and I will enjoy the blessing of the little piece of plastic and rubber that soothes and calms our sweet baby girl.

1 comment:

JOY GARNER WHITT said...

Her mommy loved her pacifier, too, and had it until she was three years old. Of course, she was the third child and I would give her anything to calm the household noise. Maddie is a joy just like her mommy was (is)!