No more nana

Yesterday, my daughter announced without prompting: "I'm a big girl now, mommy. No more nana." Her last nursing session was one week ago tonight, the night we were reunited after a week's separation. Determined as I was to resist any and all appeals to re-open the bar, I gave in almost immediately when she tearfully shrieked, "Mommy, pleeeease! I neeeeed it!" But the next day, during a calmer moment, I explained the conditions of her new big-girl status, and then explained again when withholding the nana that night, the next, and the next. In each case, she whimpered but seemed to agree it was for the best. By yesterday, it seems she'd internalized my explanation to the extent that she could claim it as her own. At first I was extremely sad, but now it seems perfectly natural, and not all that big a deal. Parenting never lets me forget that change is inevitable, painful, and often a good thing.

Pithy posting

I've decided that the only way this new project will survive is if I narrow its scope. So, from now on I will try to limit each post to one short paragraph that will recount one thought or observation that has come up since my last post. This will be a challenge, since I tend to over-qualify, over-explain, over-frame, and generally to blather on too much when I write. The paragraph doesn't have to be profound or witty or heart-felt; just pithy. (I love that word, pithy.) I reserve the right, however, to blather on in the occasional post if I feel it is warranted. All right, then. 'Nuff said.