A Modern Day Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, in a land that could be considered another country, a lovely, smart, bright young lady bore her first child. "A boy! A boy!" was shouted throughout the land. The new mother and father were overjoyed by the birth of their new son. As he lay sleeping peacefully in the hospital, the boy's parents were content.

As time went by, the boy grew. And as he grew he learned all sorts of new and wonderful things. He learned to sit up, eat from a spoon, crawl and even walk. "Our son's a genius," the parents thought. "There isn't anything he can't do." And the boy's parents were content.

The boy's lovely, smart, bright mother did all she could to ensure her son's proper development. She devoured parenting books and magazines, diligently fed him foods for proper nutrition and ensured his sleep habits were healthy. All of this led to the boy being extremely well-adjusted. He was a happy boy. The parents sighed to themselves, "Our son is awesome." And the boy's parents were content.

Although the boy's parents knew better, they let their wonderful little boy use a pacifier. "It won't hurt," they thought. "Plus, it calms him when he's fussy and helps him to take wonderfully long naps and sleep so well at night." The parents agreed they would stop the boy's use of a pacifier at his first birthday. Well, the boy's first birthday came and went, and yet the pacifier remained. The boy's parents were beginning to be anything but content.

The boy's wise father knew that the best way to rid their lives of the pacifier was simply to stop. The boy's lovely, smart, bright mother was too scared to stop cold turkey. "No, no," she said. "Let's gradually wean him off the pacifier. Since I'm home with him all day, I can do it." To the father's dismay, the boy's SECOND birthday came and went and yet the pacifier remained. The boy's parents were not happy at all.

A few months after the boy's second birthday, the small family decided to take a short journey. While they were in a land only three hours away, the boy's extremely persausive grandmother encouraged the young boy to simply "Throw the pacifier out the window!" To the great astonishment of all those present, the young boy took the pacifier out of his mouth and threw it out the window! The boy's family was more than content - they were estatic.

In the days that followed the young boy's sleep suffered. The thing he had relied on for more than two years was suddenly gone! The boy's parents, especially his lovely, not-so-smart or bright mother, were not quite content since their sleep was suffering as well.

But the boy's father knew the boy would be better off as a result of his throwing the pacifier out the window. And the boy's mother could only hope.

**(We hope this explains any crabbiness any of the Giddens' have exhibited over the past few days!)**