Small Victories

Last night was a small victory in my quest to establish dominance over my 3 year old. As my dear friend Tara keeps reminding me, if I give in just once I'm going to have to start all over again. So I stuck to my guns. Even after the fiasco that was Tuesday night, she didn't seem as brave to test me last night. Eric got her bathed and dressed for bed while I got Evan down for the night. We went through our routine fine and started story time. She decided to sit next to me on the toy box while I read. Well, then she started goofing around and managed to face plant into the floor. I told her she needed to sit still and listen to the story or I wasn't going to read. She immediately got up to do the same thing that had just caused her to fall on her face. I closed the book and put it up, and at the point she started screaming bloody murder. You would think I just beat her or something with the way she was screaming. I gave her a hug, laid her down, and walked out. A minute or 2 later she came out saying she was sorry and could she please have her story. I heard Tara in my head saying "Don't give in. Don't give in." So, I gave her a pop on the bottom and she started screaming again. I told her if she didn't hush I would start taking her toys away. She got quiet and I left. She started screaming again shortly after I closed the door. I turned around and went back in her room. She started trying to snatch all her toys to keep me from taking any. I got one of her dolls she had and said she better be quiet and go to sleep or I would take more away. All of this transpired over a span of about 20 minutes total. She finally stopped screaming and slowly got more quiet then fell asleep. Ahhhhhhh! Small victory, but I will take 20 minutes verses 2 hours any day.