Almost four

In January of 2013 Ruby was 2 and Maia was almost 3. We went to visit my parents in Arizona and while Aleks had to get back to snowy Wichita, I was able to stay and enjoy the beautiful weather. We had just spent 2 weeks in Oregon for Christmas and Ruby was ready to be home.

I distinctly remember that afternoon. Ruby desperately needed a nap (I did too) and her sleep deprivation seemed to give her superhuman strength.

She and I battled for close to 2 hours. Why I chose to let it go on that long, I can only write off as exhaustion fueled logic.

In the end, she won. Never took a nap. Broke my spirit. Made me question my capabilities as a parent.

That day I called Aleks and told him that we should look into a vasectomy.

Almost every night for the next two years, bedtime with Ruby has involved tantrums and/or manipulative shenanigans that caused me to dread that time after dinner.

We tried everything we could think of. Incentives, timeouts, threats, yelling, tenderness, locking doors, persuading, routines, begging, ignoring, taking away of privileges. I hate to admit it, but we even swatted her butt a few times, of which I feel completely hypocritical about. Actually, that entire list makes me feel sick.

Nothing seemed to impact my ferociously stubborn child. It was almost as if it was habit for her.

Bedtime=tantrum.

We could not figure out how to break that cycle.

Two years people.

I think the only thing that kept up sane was that we started this whole process relatively early in the evening so we always had time to decompress by ourselves after she finally passed out.

I can't put an exact date on it, but Ruby has not thrown one tantrum at bedtime in the past week and a half.

She's come close, but we've been able to head her off with ease.

Next week Ruby will be 4. She started preschool last month. We got a puppy. Lots of changes and yet everything else has stayed the same.

It's like a switch got flipped.

I'm hesitant to even mention it, but I'm not terribly superstitious and the past two years have taught me that I don't really have that much control over the situation.

My biggest prayer is that she comes out of this season with minimal scaring that fades quickly. Actually I hope that for all of us.

So cheers to a new season. To maturity and growth and cooperation.