NO MORE PAPPIES!!!!

Well, I did it. I finally did it. I rid our lives of the beloved pappy. A few days after they were all fine and well from their bout with RSV, I reached my limit with those stupid, plastic hole pluggers.
We were on our way home, late one night, from a church meeting and they kept dropping them beside their seats onto the pitch black floor of the van. They would scream like someone was dragging them along side the van while we were barreling down the highway "Pappy, pappy! I drop my pappy!" Which meant I had to keep turning around to find those stupid things. Grrrrr. (My blood pressure is raising right now just remembering that night.) I was so put out with the whole situation by the time they finally fell asleep, I think there was actual smoke coming from my ears. I almost threw them out the window right then and there. (The pappies that is, not the children!) Seriously, I had had it. I was soooo over it and made up my mind that we were going to start the process on Monday of getting rid of those stupid things.
I started by taking it away at nap time and boy howdy they didn't like that little arrangement. I am sure our neighbors thought I was hanging them by their toe nails. They never went to sleep that afternoon and the next day we had a bad morning that involved a shady mechanic and an oil change that lasted for TWO HOURS. I caved and let them have it and then remembered that Thanksgiving was only 2 days away and knew that no one (especially me and their daddy) wanted to spend that holiday with two very cranky children. I stopped Operation: Get rid of the pappy, till the next week. I was sharing my woes that first Monday on fb and got a few good tips about cutting a little off the nipple of the pappy every day. The idea was that eventually the pappy would be so 'broken' that they wouldn't want it any more. You know, instead of just taking it away from them. Sounded like a good thing try so I did. Except, now looking back at it, I cut off a little too much that first go around. No wonder they were so pitiful that afternoon. They really were, they didn't get angry (not at first any way!)they were just crying "Pappy broke. Mommy, pappy broke. Fix it, fix it." After a few visits to their room, I had them convinced that I was sorry but their was nothing I could do about their pappies being broke. I know, cruel, right?
When their daddy got home, they told him all about their pappies being broke. Surprisingly enough, they didn't ask him to fix them. I was a little worried about that one, you know, 'cause daddy's can fix anything! They went on their merry little way and when bed time came around they did just fine. They whined a little about it being broken but fell asleep any way.
After a few days of that I figured they were ready to take the plunge so I asked James one day before nap time "If pappy is broken don't you think we should throw it in the trash?" He agreed and handed it over to me to "throw in the trash" (I kept it. I'm sentimental that way) and since that day, about 2 weeks ago, pappy has only been mentioned in those weakest moments. I.E. getting hurt, extremely tired, or not feeling good. It took Audrey a day or two more to get to the "trash" place but she did. I haven't heard a single peep from her about it. Well maybe a few times in those moments of despair! All in all this whole operation was NOT AT ALL what I was expecting. I was expecting a couple weeks of throw downs and sleepless afternoons and nights, especially from Audrey. But once again my children have proven me wrong. James may have been more logical about the 'broken' pap but he had the hardest time biding it farewell. They each have their fare share of animals and blankets to sleep with at night but at least those items are LARGE and can be found easily in the dark!