First full-on meltdown

Aidan had her first almost-two years old meltdown last night. She is really resistant to going to bed lately. Some nights are great, but last night she was playing her counting game and generally not cooperating. She lost one book before even getting to her room, had the opportunity to earn it back with positive teeth brushing but lost it (she's at 3 books at this stage of the story). She lost one more book over getting her PJ's one. As soon as I put it out in the hall, she started crying hysterically. She kept trying to get out of the baby gate to go get it and when she couldn't open it by herself, she attempted to drag me or Christianne over to help her. All the while, crying real tears and snot running down her nose and half dressed because that's as far as we got in the process.

Although it made our hearts break, Christianne and I held firm that the book had gone "bye-bye" but she would have a chance to get to read it tomorrow night and she still had two books left. We reflected her anger and her sadness and inquired if she would like hugs or kisses to help her feel better (both were rejected). We offered to leave the room to give her some time by herself, but she clearly stated she wanted us to stay. We went on like this for at least 30 minutes before she finally calmed down enough to bury her face in my legs and accept reality.

For some reason, she seemed to blame Christianne for this whole episode, even though I was the one who took the book away. Poor Christianne. All she wanted to do was repair the connection with Aidan and Aidan was having none of it, trying to push Christianne off the bed and refusing hugs and kisses good night. It was a sad night for everyone.

Aidan and I settled into the big bed to read, but she was wide awake after all that crying and showed no signs of going to sleep. I offered to put her into the crib with a pillow, water, blanket, Steve, and Sally (large, knit flower person). She agreed and all was good for a bit. Then she started crying again. Christianne went to check on her and got to snuggle her for a bit, then Aidan started calling for me. Back in the big bed. I suggested that she could just sleep in the bed (as sometimes having an audience just makes things worse), but she insisted that I lie down with her. We laid down and eventually Aidan fell asleep at 9:40p, about an hour and 20 minutes later than we like for her to go down. She was a tired little girl this morning.

Neither Christianne nor I have ever wanted to go back on our word so much as when Aidan was acting as if we had eviscerated Steve in front of her, but knew that the ultimate best thing was to keep the limit.

Maybe tonight, we will get to read, "Mr. Brown can Moo, Can You?"