Bedtime blues.

Cosette doesn't want this pillow. She doesn't like this blanket. When she puts her head down she smells something. She doesn't like this bed. She wants milk. She is hungry. She wants the other doll. She doesn't like her pajamas. She has to go poopy. She needs a band-aid. She is itchy. Her leg hurts. The sheets are dirty. She has a hair in her mouth. She can't get it out. She wants me to rub her belly. She wants me to rub her back. She is sad. She doesn't want to go to sleep.

Bedtime has become a nightmare.

It seems like every few months we have this battle all over again.

Juliette is usually much easier; but lately, even she is finding ways to prolong her bedtime. Usually, it is by offering support in my battle of the wills with Cosette. "Way to go, mommy." she'll say, or "I'm a good girl Mommy. Not like Cosette. Cosette cries all the time" or "You tell her, Mommy." It is all very cute, but I'd prefer she'd stay in bed herself.

It is only I who has this problem. At daycare, she gets her own sleeping bag out. For the nanny, she goes right to sleep. For my mother, she announces that she is tired and ready for a nap. With me? It's a constant struggle. She is testing me, seeing how long she can complain before I really lose my temper. It's as if she knows that I am trying to be better at controlling my temper, and she is purposfully baiting me, as if to say "I have the real power here."

Sigh. The truth is, she does. And therein lies the problem.