Picking my Battles

I have to admit, I'm not very good at picking my battles. I'm always worried if I let something slide once, I am doomed. I am also a firm believer in not backing down when I have said no, not matter how severe the tantrum, or how petty the argument may be.  As you can imagine, in my constant effort to establish my position of authority, we have had some spectacularly ludicrous battles. 

Now that Skye is old enough to enjoy arguing back and has mastered the art of the pester, I have had to change my approach slightly. 

If only to prevent myself from developing an ulcer.

Skye is nearly 4 which means day time naps still happen, but not every day, I run on more of an as needs basis and on the days they are needed, Skye will still sleep for 2 hours. Which is great until bedtime rolls around and she is still making requests for milk and cuddles and custard well past 9pm! On the days when she really should have had a sleep and for whatever reason doesn't, well, I am sure you know how pleasant an overtired 3 year old is by dinner time. Then, of course, there is always the risk of the Nap of Doom happening at 5:30pm. Nap of Doom is never a good thing.

Yesterday was a borderline day.

We had been to swimming in the morning and after over a week of only car trip napping, I thought a catch up would be a good idea. The fact that she was almost asleep on the way back from swimming made me even more confident in my decision. It's a pity Skye did not agree. Reluctantly, she got into bed and had her usual story and song routine. Blinds were drawn and doors were left ajar while I took Hayden to his cot hoping to hit the synchronised nap jackpot. 

I came back to the front of the house and all was quiet. I breathed a sigh of relief and gave myself a pat on the back for my phenomenal parenting skills. Then I thought I would have a sneaky look at Skye sleeping because the only thing better than the sight of a baby sleeping, is a toddler/preschooler asleep amongst a sea of pillows and stuffed animals. But she wasn't asleep. She was standing on her bed looking out over a crowd of imaginary friends mouthing some kind of story. I darted back behind the doorway and waited for her to call out to me, but she didn't. So I crept into my bedroom and decided that rather than yell at her to get back into bed potentially ruining the peace and quiet, I would let her think that I still thought she was sleeping and continue what she was doing. 

Win/win if you ask me.

Sadly my win only lasted another 10 minutes until the phone rang and Skye suddenly sprang up and begged to come out. Not long after that Hayden was awake again too and the silence was a distant memory.

Not napping, just talking.

But hey, I still managed half an hour without being asked for something to eat, or a different show, or when is daddy coming home. Better still, I didn't have my blood pressure go through the roof because of yet another battle about something unimportant.