The Boppy Fairy

Today we began the process of weening my daughter off of her pacifier, which she refers to as her boppy.

Our son is also going through a tough transition (kindergarten) and happened to karate-chop my husband in the nuts tonight, but that is a story for another time. I can only handle one child struggling with a given milestone per entry.

So, with my daughter, we’ve decided to utilize a time-worn family-strategy in the hopes of curbing most of her boppy-related symptoms of withdrawal: enter, the Boppy Fairy.

I think the premise is as follows: this fairy-lady brings presents and leaves them under your pillow when you don’t use your boppy? I’ll need to verify that with my mom. According to my son, this fairy is invisible and her house is made of boppies she collects from sad children.

But I sort of decided on my own strategy and went with it today. I told myself it was go time, partially because our neighbor was trying to offload her kid’s Barbie dream house. And what is that expression? Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth?

Anyway, I snuck out of our house, walked down the block in the sweltering heat, and carried Barbie’s enormous house back to ours. Then I hid it around the side of our house and rang the door bell, sneaking right back inside.

My kids ran down the steps and found this card on the front stoop:

Hello.

I am the Boppy Fairy.

Are you ready to start this adventure?

Today, something will be dropped off. It is special. However, if you want to keep it, you can only keep your boppies in your room and use them at night.

You decide.

Love, the Boppy Fairy

My version of the fairy is hardcore and very no nonsense. It’s reminiscent of a more “Mission Impossible” style fairy. This mission, if you choose to accept it… This message will detonate in thirty seconds.

Then, a few minutes later, I yelled from the side of the house, “Look what the Boppy Fairy left!”

My son was ECSTATIC. He’s got no skin in the game. He had just gained a gently-used Barbie dream house, and currently he’s thoroughly enjoying launching Barbies off of the roof and elevator.

But my daughter, her emotions are slightly more… nuanced.

She wanted to celebrate the new house, but something was tugging at that joy. And that something was her raging boppy addiction.

All things considered, she’s done pretty well today. She had a few questions throughout the day about some of the exact clauses of the dream house deal. She asked what would happen if she elected to keep the dream house outside and only played with it in the yard. In that case could she keep her boppies? She’s always searching for a loophole.

But I said, no, I’m pretty sure that wasn’t the deal. That it was all or nothing with the dream house. This fairy is extremely cut throat.

But all in all, today went okay! She asked for her boppy a few times, but understood why I said no. And after a few tears, she seemed to move on. The real challenge will be when this fairy raises the stakes and comes for her bedtime boppy.

Right as I was changing her into pajamas, I held her little cheeks in my hands and said, “Sweetie, guess what time it is?”

“My boppy!!” she shrieked.

My son told her he was really proud of her for hanging tough the whole day and even gifted her the “good side” of the bed for bedtime stories. It is the side they typically fight over, closer to the wall and so cozy.

Both of my kids fell asleep quickly tonight and when their breathing slowed, I cupped my daughter’s small shoulder with one hand and rested my other hand on my son’s curly head of blonde hair.

Everyone has been telling me that this all goes by in a blink. That it was just yesterday that they were going through this or that with their own children.

I looked down at their sweet little faces, all perfect lips and adorable ears. They are my whole world. They are my whole heart.