Security Bwanket

When I weaned Scott, he wasn’t really ready for me to wean him. He was 16-months old and still nursing every 3 hours, around the clock. But, I was pregnant with Johnathan, and nursing was very painful. After almost 2 months of dealing with the pain, I just couldn’t anymore. The doctor had told us to not discourage the round-the-clock nursing, because he was still so far behind in weight (he was 3 lbs. 5 oz. at birth) and the fat calories that he was getting from nursing were just helping him, so when I weaned him, I weaned him to the bottle.

Scott took a bottle of whole milk for naps and bedtime until he was nearly 3. For a while, when Johnathan was an infant, Scott still woke up in the middle of the night for a bottle. He didn’t stop that until he was weaned from the bottle.

Because I was exhausted with a baby (Jeb) who nursed every 2-3 hours, and Scott who woke up at least once a night, I weaned Scott from the bottle to the pacifier. It was the only way to do it pain-free and give me as little hassle as possible. It worked, too. Once he was off of the bottle, he potty-trained. A few months after, he started sleeping through the night.

When Gregg was home in January, we weaned him from the pacifier. The day Gregg got home, we got rid of the pacifiers. I couldn’t believe how easy it was. With his daddy there, he didn’t need anything else. Gregg was home for 3 weeks and left, and Scott seemed secure with no vices.

But one has worked its way into his life.

Do you see it?

Lightning McQueen.

A little boy in Scott’s Sunday school class had the whole Cars collection. He took a few of them in to the class every Sunday night and Wednesday night for weeks. Scott “had” to have a “Wightning McQween”. I consented. He’d never even seen the movie. He loved this thing. Carried it around everywhere – couldn’t wait to get to church and show this little boy his Car.

When we took our Spring Break trip to Florida, I bought the Cars movie for the boys to watch. There are elements in the movie that I do not like. Once I heard the whole thing (because I didn’t see it as it was playing in the car) I limited their exposure to the movie, only allowing them to watch it once a week. (Yay that it got all scratched up and thrown away!) However, in the limited time he saw it, Scott was able to memorize the entire movie.

Now, wherever we go, so goes Lightning McQueen. And Scott verbally replays the movie as he races Lightning over the backs of chairs in the dentist office waiting room, his car seat arms, the back of the couch, his bed, his stroller frame, the slide at the park. He is never without Lightning unless we’re at the table (“No cars at the table. Here you go, Mommy,”) or in the bath, (“Wightning will get ruined in the bath. Here you go, Mommy.”). The only time he wakes up in the middle of the night anymore is when it falls out of his hand. I’ve spent many a 3AM pulling the fallen car out from behind Scott’s bed or digging it out from under his pillow.

We had Vacation Bible School at church this week. On Monday, I told Scott no cars to church. It was a new teacher, new classroom, a whole bunch of new kids – I didn’t want him racing Lighting McQueen around when the teacher was trying to take him on a Cosmic Space Adventure. He had a total breakdown and I had to physically carry him to the car while he screamed, “Please, Mommy! Oh, please, Mommy!”

We were at the church early so that I could help cook the dinner to feed the VBS staff. The whole time I worked on dinner, Scott sat in a corner and cried. “I’m just so tired. I can’t do church tonight,” he kept saying as big crocodile tears fell down his face.

An hour after we got there, the service started. Scott and Jeb went on with their group into the sanctuary for the opening ceremonies. About 10 minutes later, a youth brought Scott to me. He was absolutely beside himself. I finally got him calmed down and told him to go play in the toddler room (which was right off the room I was in). He moped his way into the room and about 3 minutes later, came running back out, clutching a red object. He was so excited.

When he made his way to me, I saw a miniature Lightning McQueen he’d pulled out of a toybox. He hugged me and said, “I can do it now. I’m okay now.”

We obviously have a problem.

The next night, I allowed him to bring Lightning to the church. He actually had 2 of them. I told him to put them in his pockets and not take them out until after class. He was good with that. When the preschoolers were released (45 mins earlier than the other classes) he was allowed to play in the big gym where I was serving snacks to another group of kids. Thirty minutes later, someone said to me, “Where are Scott’s cars?”

Obviously, all of my friends know of Scott’s problem, too. Because 6 adults spent the next 30 minutes looking for 2 Lightning McQueens. And when someone finally found them, we spent another 10 minutes standing around relieved that I wouldn’t have to stop by WalMart on my way home from church to buy a new one.

It looks like we need to wean him from something else. But, honestly, I’m good with waiting for a while. If his security blanket only costs $3 at any retail store and will fit in his little toddler pocket or the coin section of my purse, I guess I really don’t have too much to complain about.

And, don’t think I haven’t recently stashed a few spares in my car. And Gregg’s truck. And my Bible bag. And my purse.