Sikky Cups

My 5 year old was committed to letting go of the sippy cup the day he turned 4.  It was a passage that he felt he was ready to venture... just as we mommies sooooo look forward to letting go of the bottle the day they turn one (if not a month... or two... ? before.. is that too soon?).  We also, (ADMIT IT!) long for the day that the "leak proof" sippy cup will be placed on the top shelf for the occasional company who forgot theirs...  its a good thing to hold on to.. (an empty crib is not).

My 4 year old, however, has not let go.  Nor does he really have any intentions of making the leap to the "big boy cup."  We did the "you are four now" approach... we did the "you can use a straw" tactic... we have been patient.. supportive and annoyed all at the same time. But when he is ready, he is ready, right?  

So the other day, he told me he was ready!  I know.. I was shocked too..  Why was he ready?.. you ask?  We were at Walgreens and he saw a bunch of soft plastic kid coffee mugs (why they make coffee mug-shaped cups for kids is beyond me), but he was initially attracted to them because of his tactile obsession.. and then he noticed there were names on them!!!  cool!!!   "lets look for my name!"... (well, that was ONE thing they dont tell ya' when you are deciding on your kids name... "dont pick a name ya cant find shit with their name on it!"...  how do we explain that your name is not popular, so you wont find it on ANY of the personalized/named things?)  So instead, he found a cup with trains on it and he fell in love with it.  

"I want it..I want it, mommy!.... I will stop drinking out of my sikky cup and drink out of this, mom..  really! I will!"   I looked at him.. I smiled and said..  "not today, buddy, lets come back another day"..  "but whhhyyyyyyyyyyy?"  I had to make him (or maybe I was allowing me some time) to think about it good and hard for a couple days.. make the commitment, kinda thing. So we hid the cup behind a girly pink cup with a name that NO one has, but they have a cup for it!.... and he asked every day for 5 days to go back and get that cup.  So we finally went back. 

He jumped out of the car and ran into the store on his tippy toes, so excited for this cup.  He found the cup... just where we had put it, and we brought it home... washed it up..  he was so excited, telling his daddy about it and his brother about it..  he carried it around with him,  he was so elated.  Bedtime came and he wanted his milk...  so I started getting his new cup ready and he came up to me... pulled on my pant leg and whispered, "umm..   mommy?.... um, I really like my cup, but... um... I.. I still love my sikky cup.  When I am 5, I will... ok, mommy?... when I am a five."  

So up on the top shelf the soft plastic kids coffee mug with trains went.