Of Orange Juice and Bubble Baths

Last night was a little rough.  Aly and MayLee had a little picnic in my bedroom with their goldfish and orange juice.  That in itself should have seemed like a bad idea to me.  I should have been in there with them or brought them back into the family room.  But no.  I let them be and about 2 minutes in, I heard MayLee crying. 

Alyson had her sippy cup tipped upside down and was sprinkling MayLee with her juice.  And it was all gone.  Poor MayLee was wet and sticky and unhappy. 

And then I made a mistake.  I sent Alyson to bed.  At 6.  Her bedtime is normally 830.  I told Erik that he could go in and give her good night kisses and why she was in bed.  So he did.  And she wasn't happy about it.  She wanted to get down and play.  So there was weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.  All kinds of drama.

Meanwhile, I gave MayLee a bath to remove the orange juice from her hair and skin.  She had a grand ol' time.  Her trauma was quite forgotten while surrounded with bubbles and bath toys.  After she was positively squeaky clean, I dried her off and got her dressed.  Daddy was talking to Alyson again.  It seems she found a book and lifted her blinds a little to read.  Maybe this would have been fine if it was our idea.  We took it away. 

And then we started doubting ourselves.  Was this going to be effective at all?  Was it going to cause bed time battles?  Should we leave her there and take her a book or her piggie so she could pass the time?  Arrgh!  I was so frustrated with myself for starting it in the first place.  Lately, time out has not been very effective - she'll just tell me "No!" and won't go sit down.  If I put her in time out, she gets out of it.  So I let her sit on her bed until she's ready to listen and go to time out.  But man!  What a mess.

So Erik and I decided that we'd get her out of bed and let her snuggle with him on the couch until bedtime.  She was calmer when I went in there to talk to her about what happened.  We discussed why she was in bed.  What she should have done differently.

"But MayLee started it!"

"And Alyson, you're the big sister.  You should have told her, 'No MayLee, we don't tip over our juice,' and helped her pick it up instead of pouring it on her.  And if she cries, you have to listen to her.  She doesn't like what you're doing."

"But MayLee did it first."

"I understand..." (Repeat, etc)

So after we talked, I got her out of bed and snuggled with Daddy.  I don't know which part of last night was my biggest mistake.  I know I made some.  But man!  Three is definitely harder than two.

And at the same time, it's infinitely more fun.  This morning, Aly woke up a little earlier than normal and I was snuggling with her in my bed when MayLee started wimpering. 

"Aly, I'll be right back - I'm going to go get MayLee."

"Stay... Daddy will be home in a second.  He will get her." (cooing, sweet and convincing)