Burying the 'Bink'

"Bink...bink...BINK!!!"
Heaven help me, how I hate that word.
And other 'baby' words, for that matter.  But back to the matter at hand.
My wife and I are working feverishly to wean our two-year-old daughter off of her PACIFIER.
Yeah, I know it's easier for baby to say one syllable as opposed to the four in 'pacifier', but if you're looking for 'easy', you're not going to find it as a parent.
Now that Savannah's last baby teeth are pretty much in, we're working to remove her dependency from her pacifier.
"I need a bink!"
We chose the passive-aggressive approach to getting her to change it up.
"Did you want your pacifier?"
"Pah-fier."
Close enough.
And just a couple weeks ago, we took this to the next level.
Now she gets her pacifier at bedtime only.  And only if she specifically asks for it.
We've hidden our stock of pacifiers in a place where she can't find or get to it, as we've learned that her memory is pretty photographic when it comes to something she wants.
We had tried to start this process at 20 months, but since she still had teeth coming in, we decided to delay it a bit.
The teeth are still coming in, and she's resorted to chewing on other things, but the bottom line is, she's going to have to give it up, sooner or later.
The challenge is trying to convince her that she doesn't need it...at least not in the sense she thinks.
She's been pretty good with not needing a security blanket, but the pacifier habit isn't going to be easy to break.
Nonetheless, we're sticking by our plan. 
And while the pacifiers are soon to gather dust, it didn't escape my attention just how many of these things a new parent can accumulate.
We have nine at last count.  There were the ones she got as a newborn.  Then as she graduated from infant to crawler, then toddler.  Two with the Penn State logo were 'retired' as they became favorites (by her mom's design) and quickly wore out.
We had at least two for each car.  One ever ready, and another usually lost under a seat.  Then at least one in the diaper bag.  Because you never knew when the moment was going to strike when it would disappear into oblivion forever, and woe to the one without a ready replacement.
Who knew that this simple piece of plastic and rubber would bring so much salvation to both parent and child?
Of course, it's replaced by a new form of plastic.  Usually marked with one of two words..."Mastercard" or "Visa".

NEXT WEEK:  Back to the Brat