Backfire

Brianna is 3 yrs. old. So, she's just at that age where she can try your patience to the max all day, in every way possible. This was the kind of day we'd had yesterday and then, finally, to my relief it was her bedtime. But, she was feeling her oats and instead of coming over to me when I asked her to help me get her into her PJ's she decided to hide in her closet. After repeatedly asking her to come out and getting no results I excercised extreme parental control and instead of opening the closet door and yanking her out, (an act which would inevitably result in a tearful showdown since Brianna is prone to burst into tears at the drop of a pin lately), I decided to try a different, more lighthearted tact. I realized that the large 3 yr. old sized, stuffed Dora the Explorer doll Bree has would fit into Bree's pajamas. And, completely ignoring the kid in the closet I proceeded to stuff the large dolly into the pajamas and say, "Oh Dora, you're such a good girl for putting on these pajamas so nicely. Next I'm going to read you a bedtime story." I was actually pretty proud of myself for not loosing my cool and escalating the situation and expected to hear some giggling or have Bree burst out of the closet but instead all I got was heartbroken sobbing from inside the closet. "What is the problem?" I asked her. "Mom, those are MY pajamas, not Dora's! And this is MY room, you should read ME a story!"

So, ultimately I guess my little ploy worked out just as I planned and made her decide all on her own that she wanted to come out and get ready for bed...but it also kind of backfired since I was hoping to AVOID another bursting into tears loud sobbing episode since I'd had just about enough of them that day. Oh well....