What to Know
Every family has a different way of doing things, from having family meals around a table versus in front of the TV, to co-sleeping or being 100 percent against that practice. In a video on TikTok, one family shares their own way of handling the elusive pacifier that some kids develop an intense affinity for from the time they are both until toddlerhood.
In the video, the family holds an adorable funeral to officially say goodbye to the pacifier, binky, dummy, soother, paci, or whatever other catchy name your family has for the little baby accessory that adds comfort for infants.
I will be the first to plead the fifth if I am asked how long my second child took to say goodbye to her pacifier. But if we had thought of a funeral for her binky, she might not have had as hard of a time letting go.
@lookitskateeee Bye bye paci😔🕊️! #churchtiktok #fyp #pacifierweaning #explore #momlife ♬ original sound – lookitskateeee
The pacifier funeral even features a funeral program.
In the video, family members gather in the traditional dark colors to mourn the “sunset” of Paci, the pacifier.
One of the parents holds the little girl who is saying goodbye to her pacifier for good, though as they pass by to pay their respects, another toddler snatches one up for their own collection of pacifiers at home.
I mean, it would be a wasted opportunity otherwise, right?
According to the funeral invitation card in another video, this pacifier funeral was a long time coming, with the toddler using it for almost three years.
The best part about the pacifier funeral, though, is how very un-serious the entire family is. While some relatives fall to the floor crying in a dramatic way you might see in a TV movie that features a funeral, others passionately sing out hymns during the “service.”
Honestly, the fanfare of it all is as much for the adults as it is for the little girl who is saying goodbye to Paci.
In the video with the funeral invite, one page of the service pamphlet says that the little girl wants to thank her cousins “for being her rocks and strength during this time.”
In the comments under the original video about the pacifier funeral, other users pointed out how dramatic the family is about the pacifier, but the mom who posted the video commented that her daughter was “obsessed” with Paci and that the entire family felt it was a “big deal” to say goodbye to it. Umm, you think?
“We cannot be the new adults,” one user commented on the TikTok.
Another wrote, in a clear joke about the silliness of it all, “She gonna be grieving for a min. God bless her village!”
If you have ever had a child who had a hard time getting rid of their pacifier, you might understand the parents’ need to do something big to pave the way for a “big girl” era, though.
Getting a toddler, or even a preschooler (do not judge me here for my daughter’s transgressions), to give up their main source of self-soothing that they have relied on for years is no easy task.
If a whole freaking fake funeral, complete with a pacifier being attached to a balloon to float away, is what it takes, then I’m all for it. What happens at the next bedtime and nap time, however, is anyone’s guess.
