The Closer

That's my wife's new nickname for me.
Here's how I got it.
Our daughter turned two on July 19th.  And for the rest of the month, Savannah was limited to her time with her pacifier...at bedtime only, and she left it in the crib after getting out of it, and returned to it at bedtime.
Prior to this, we had been asked when we were going to take her off of it.
I was reluctant to do so right away, because her teeth came in later than usual, and the last thing I wanted to do was to cause her pain and discomfort by depriving her of what relieved her teething pain.
But I'm also not about coddling children, either.  And by giving in, I would be acting outside of my "Old School Dad" persona.
So as of August 1st, we took Savannah off the pacifier.
And she was not happy about it.
At all.
Saturday night of last week was a great example.
Despite the fact that our Munchkin had not had her usual nap and was pretty cranky as a result, she continued to scream, cry and make enough noise to awaken the 'residents' of the cemetery down the road from my house.
Margie went upstairs first, and after about fifteen minutes, came back downstairs, and while it appeared that she had solved the problem initially, Savannah had resumed her call to the wild, according to the red-lining baby monitor on the back porch table next to swing where I sat next to my wife.
I set down my wine glass and told Margie I'd be back.
I have a system to gently inform my daughter that such behavior will not be tolerated.
I walked up to her closed, but not latched, bedroom door, then gave it a gentle shove to make it 'burst' open.
I greeted my daughter standing up in her crib, not sure of what to make of this entry.
"Savannah...what's wrong, huh?", I said, giving her my best dejected look.
"mmm...medicine", she whined.
"Does your mouth hurt?"
"Yeah", she claimed, holding her Minnie Mouse up to her mouth, where she had been chewing on Minnie's ear.
I fetched the teething gel and applied a generous amount to her gums, just to discover what appeared to be another tooth coming in.  Explained a lot.
I also fetched the "Sniffles and Sneezes" tablets (a product of Hyland's) to help a minor cold she had developed earlier in the week.  Then she asked for a drink of water.  The waiting sipper cup on the bookshelf near her crib went to work.
After that, I fetched her dolls and her Minnie Mouse, as she laid down. 
"You need to go to sleep," I told her, "so that you can be awake to do all the things you want to do tomorrow...like play in the nursery when you and mommy go to church in the morning." 
A smile lit up her little face.
"That sounds like fun, doesn't it?" I said. 
"Yeah," came the soft voice accompanied by a nod.
"So you're going to be quiet and go to sleep for me, then?"
Another nod.
"Promise?"
Yet another nod.
"OK, I'll hold you to that."
I smiled and stroked her little face, before kissing my fingertips and applying them to her cheek. 
"Good night, angel."
I returned to my wife and my glass of wine, and a silent rest of the evening.
Couldn't believe that worked.
"You're the closer," Margie said.
Leave it to her to bring sports analogy into child-rearing.

NEXT WEEK:  Two-year Checkup