So long sippy cups. You've served us well

This week we said goodbye to sippy cups, all except two. However, one will be getting the boot soon and the Sigg is too pricey to chuck. After a quick wave goodbye from darling daughter, they were dumped into the recycling box. I'm all about freecycling, but I think sippy cups are one of those personal items that just can't be freecycled.

It has been less than a year since we stopped breastfeeding and went to sippy cups on a full-time basis. About three weeks ago, darling daughter took a big interest in drinking out of cups. When it comes to some areas of my parenting, I'm not known for my consistency. I'll likely take the lazy way out. I'm not saying giving your kid a sippy cup is lazy because sippy cups do serve a great purpose, but when darling daughter starts to show interest in something new, I'm a bit slow to react because I don't like change. Sippy cups are so easy. You definitely do take your chances giving a toddler an cup with no top. But since we were going on vacation and I wasn't keen on bringing the sippy cup collection with us, I decided not to resist change and go with the flow. So I started giving her cups. She took to them quite easily. Good thing too because for the duration of our vacation, she was drinking out of cups and water bottles (but she needed assistance with those). When we did eat at restaurants, she was drinking out of cups with straws, which was amazing because I didn't know she knew how to use straws.

When we returned home from Prince Edward Island, I decided that it was time to say goodbye to sippy cups. Yes, there are messes, but they can be easily cleaned up. Also, there is more space and less clutter in my Tupperware drawer, which makes for a happy momma.

A solution for mess clean up. But the question is: do they actual exist?

A couple of weeks ago on Coronation Street, Norris and Mary gave Emily a pair of floor polishing flip flops as a gift. Emily, a widow who could be in her late 60s or early 70s, wasn’t overly impressed with the gift. And who would blame her? She could break a hip if she attempted to polish her floors with those flip flops. She could be going around the coffee table, take a wrong turn near the buffet, slip and find herself right on her backside.

But for a mom like me, those are the perfect gift. Yes, they are ugly as sin and they’d be hard walk on the beach with, but they’d be perfect to clean up sippy cup messes and general spills. I’m tired of sippy cups leaking. I’m tired of feeling like I need to mop the floor once a day because darling daughter has dumped her strawberries onto the floor for the umpteenth time. I’m tired of mopping said messes up with my socks because I’m too lazy to get a cloth out, get on my hands and knees and clean it up myself.

The messes never end. If it isn’t peas being smashed into the rug or milk pooling underneath darling daughter’s booster seat, I’m dropping something on the kitchen floor. And there is only so many miracles the Dyson can perform. I know it is a little early to ask, but Santa, can I have a pair of floor polishing flip flops for Christmas? Because it would make my life a lot easier. And take some stress off my joints.

Sippy cup SOS

This past weekend, I misplaced two sippy cups within a 24 hour period.

Woe is me. When you only have two sippy cups, losing one puts you in a difficult position. The first sippy cup was misplaced at a friend's house during a Christmas party. I meant to put it in darling daughter's diaper bag, but it completely slipped my mind when we were leaving.

After realizing we were one sippy cup down, dear husband bought darling daughter two brand new sippy cups. Good thing he did because once again we were one sippy cup down come Sunday afternoon after returning home from another playdate. When we were packing up from the playdate, I remember putting the sippy cup in the diaper bag. That is the last time I saw it. Either it fell out of my bag or was eaten by the diaper bag. Regardless, it is gone and no where to be found.

Now I have two cups. I almost lost a third yesterday when visiting my brother's house. I made a mental note to retrieve darling daughter's sippy cup from my brother's living room when we were leaving. And we couldn't find it. Me, my sister-in-law and my mother spent about five minutes searching for darling daughter's sippy cup. I was sweating bullets. If we couldn't find the sippy cup, we'd be two sippy cups down. With only one sippy cup to depend on, we were treading on a thin line. Two Christmas ago, I was at my brother-in-law's house when my 20-month-old niece lost her sippy cup. It was their only sippy cup. They spent hours searching the house for said sippy cup. They finally found it in the trunk of my niece's bike. Needless to say, the bought a back up sippy cup.

Well, the sippy cup gods decided to cut me a break and we found the sippy cup in the little cupboard inside the coffee table. I was relieved. I meant I didn't have to break into darling daughter's Christmas stocking and use the sippy cups I bought her for Christmas.

Thank you sippy cup gods for heeding my SOS. I do appreciate it. And if you could do something about the valves coming off the cups, I'd appreciate that, too.

I want my boobs back

We have had a good 13 month run, but it is time for our breastfeeding journey to end.

It may sound selfish, but I want my boobs back.

With the introduction of sippy cups about a month ago, our breastfeeding sessions have been reduced down to two a day: once in the morning and once at night. And so far, it has been going well. I am concerned about how much liquids darling daughter is actually getting, but she seems to have plenty of wet diapers. Plus, I try to add water whenever I can in her diet. Watermelon is a favourite. And I offer her sippy cups throughout the day.

Except for the morning feeding, she doesn't ask for momma's milk. She seems to be content in using her sippy cup.

So I am at the cusp of transitioning from the breast to the sippy cup. It is a bittersweet time for both me and darling daughter. Although it is nice to be wanted, it is time for breastfeeding relationship to end. I am proud of our journey. At the beginning, I didn't think I'd last 13 days, let alone 13 months. We struggled. There were tears. Darling daughter hated my left boob at first. She'd cry when she saw it. Then after awhile it became her favourite. Although it took some time, I soon discovered how convenient how breastfeeding is. No bottles. No fuss. No muss. I've breastfed on planes, in airports, at malls, in the backseat of the car and in parks. There was a time that I didn't want to introduce solid foods because I didn't want to interrupt our breastfeeding relationship because it was that important to me.

I must admit, I am a bit nervous because the boob is so convenient, especially as a comforting tool, but I am ready. And darling daughter is ready, too. Plus, I want my boobs back.

It is time to stop the procrastination . . . here we come sippy cups!

Today was the day that I reacquainted darling daughter with the sippy cup.

This day was at least two months in the making. It has been pure laziness on my part that I haven't pursued the sippy cup issue further. Around May, I had given darling daughter a sippy cup a handful of times. Although the results were always mixed, there was always one constant: liquid all over the place. Since I was, and still am, breastfeeding, it was always easier putting darling daughter to the breast than to deal with leaking sippy cups. There is no fuss or muss with the breast. It is very convenient. It never leaks. But, I am coming to the realization that this child can't be breastfed to the age of five and will soon have to learn how to drink out of a cup.

So I rummaged and found the package of new sippy cups I bought almost two months ago, washed one and filled it with water. Darling daughter didn't know what to think when I placed it on the tray of her high chair. She banged it against the tray. She chewed on it. And she even dropped it on the floor. Finally, she started to suck on it. Although she has yet to get the hang of tipping the cup back far enough to get water, she has taken to the sippy cup with a vengeance even to the point that she cried hysterically when I took it away from her before dinner. But I may be deceiving myself as she has a strong affinity towards plastic containers. Today, she was thrilled to play with a large yogurt container. Really, I don't know why I buy toys.

So dear readers, I may be on the verge of freedom: the freedom to be away from the house for more than four hours without worrying if darling daughter requires a feed. Despite the tiny puddles of water left on the floor that darling daughter created while practicing her sippy cup technique, these tiny plastic cups represent liberty and freedom in my world. So bring on the sippy cups! Darling daughter has a lot of practicing to do.

Copyright 2009 -- Valerie McLaughlin -- All rights reserved