Good-bye Baby Tad

Many years ago, I went on a vacation with a number of girlfriends. We had all met through having children around February 2002. During this vacation, I stayed with Kelly and her daughter, Natalie, in a shared hotel room. Each evening, she would lay Natalie to sleep in the playpen, with her Baby Tad, and he would softly play 6 minutes of music. When he would turn off, Natalie would be magically asleep! I determined right then and there that I would be getting my next baby one of these magical toys! And the day I found out I was pregnant, I went out to Target, and got my baby a Baby Tad!

So, each night, Seth went to sleep listening to six minutes of baby Tad from the night we brought him home. We took Baby Tad with us on trips to New York, and St. George. Where Seth went, so went Baby Tad. As Seth grew, he would play with him in his crib when he woke up after his nap, and sang other songs with him, as well as games!

I came to realize a few months ago, that Baby Tad wasn't always in his "usual" spot on Seth's bed. More and more I would find him with all the other stuffed toys in the toy bucket. I would fish him out and put him back on the bed. But slowly, I was coming to see that my 5 year old no longer played with Baby Tad.

This morning, at the lovely hour of 4 a.m., I woke to hear Seth crying. I went into him, as we are working really hard to keep him from coming to our bed, which has gotten to be a very bad habit of his. I laid down next to him, and listened to him tell me about his bad dream, and then I said, let's go back to sleep. He rolled over to his side, and inadvertently turned on Baby Tad for 3 minutes. I smiled to myself, thinking Magic Tad would help once again get my baby back to sleep. Then Seth quietly said, "no, tad" and turned him off. I laid there and realized that my baby no longer wanted his Baby Tad. I felt sad. It was the turning point that made me realize at 4 a.m. that my baby isn't a baby any longer, and all his baby things will soon follow Baby Tad into the bottom of the Toy Bucket. My boy is growing up. And it is a Bittersweet Thing for this momma.

Good-bye Baby Tad. And thanks for the magic you have brought for the past five years!