Doing the opposite of my parents

When I was still pregnant, my uncle asked me if I was reflecting on my childhood so that I could make sure not to make all of the same mistakes my parents did. It was an interesting question, especially since I really hadn't given it any thought. For the most part, I think my parents did a good job. Sure, I wish I had my own car in high school. And it would have been nice if I didn't have a curfew, but I think I turned out okay.

However, there is one mistake that I am working very hard not to repeat. I sucked my fingers (not my thumb, but two fingers) until I was about 5 or 6 years old. It was very difficult for my parents to get me to break the habit and it wasn't until my next door neighbor bribed me with gummy bracelets (remember those?) that I fully quit. So I've been shoving pacifiers in Tali's mouth since the beginning and she's now hooked! It really does soothe her when she's tired and fussy.

Of course this has one big disadvantage. Right now, she's not old enough to put it back in her mouth if she spits it out. So when it comes out, she cries until I put it back in. And since she spits it out quite often, I recently purchased a pacifier clip to prevent them from falling to the floor a couple of times a day. I latch it to her in the morning and only take it off when she's feeding. The clip has become her "jewelry" and you'll start to see it in pictures going forward. 

My parents wised up when my sister was born and got her hooked on pacifiers. When my sister was about three years old, they decided it was time to break her habit. We went to Birmingham for a week to visit my grandparents and when she asked for a pacifier, my parents told her that there are no pacifiers in Birmingham. She said okay (she was gullible) and that was the end of that. 

Guess what Tali... there'll be a shortage of pacifiers in New Orleans in a few years.