Goodbye, Dear Friend

Dear Sleepy,

Three days ago we went to the dentist only to be informed it was time forKali to give you up. I'm afraid this will be harder on me than on her, but I am well aware saying goodbye to you is long overdue. So I wanted to write a farewell letter.

I remember when we first welcomed you to the family. It was the day she was born and she would not stop screaming. I stared wide eyed at her, then looked at my mom and said, "We got a screamer!" Grandma put you in her mouth and she was happy as a clam. All we had to do was swaddle her, put you in, and like magic, she was out cold. Since her first day in this world her mouth has needed to be occupied, whether talking, crying, eating, sucking, chewing gum, or her favorite: sucking you. You haven't been so welcome with our other two. Trenton wouldn't look at you after 9 months and Blake stopped using you at 4 months. But our busy Kali-girl had a need, and you met it.

I remember when she named you "Sleepy." We only let her have you to fall asleep with 2x a day, so one day she said, "I need my sleepy!" "Your what?" "You know, my sleepy...to go to sleep." From the time she was 12 months old she had an uncanny ability to find you anywhere. We'd say 'it's time to go to sleep' and she'd be off, scooting under the crib, lifting blankets or toys and emerging victorious.

You did cause some conflicting emotions within me. At times you made me feel a bit lazy, but most of the time I felt wise as you got us through a new baby, losing John, and Steve's back surgery with ease. She slept in strollers, in parks, at friends homes, at the hospital - anywhere, as long as she had you.

I attribute a large part of my sanity to you. You guaranteed me a 2 hour window of peace each afternoon. You made our eight 9-hour road trips to UT last year with 3 children under the age of 4 almost enjoyable. You gave me an extra hour of sleep each morning, as she was completely content to lay quietly rubbing you in bed until the rest of the family woke up. You made my daughter beg to take a nap and go to sleep each night, putting my friends in complete awe of how "well we had her trained." Well, goodbye to all of that.

Goodbye 7:00 wake up...hello 5:45 am torture. Goodbye 2 hours of cleaning/reading/napping/blogging/Trenton one-on-one time...hello 4 pm meltdowns. Goodbye peace...hello chaos. Goodbye easy bedtimes...hello "one more drink, snuggle, story, kiss, snack, etc." Goodbye reaching the eye of the storm at 1:00 pm...hello all day storm. Goodbye my baby...hello my big girl.

As delightful as you have been, the reality is our daughter's correct teeth formation is important to us. So with a large amount of gratitude we say a fond farewell to you, our dear friend.

Love,
A very grateful mother