So there are battles she chooses. Trust me, she very rarely wins. Its been a stretch but this passive people-pleasing wanna-be-liked aquarian has found her inner mule and I WILL WIN damn it...
And I am more able to step back from the fight and let frustration and exasperation flow around me because I have seen the pattern now. It will not last for long... She rotates the battles.
One week its eating... tightly squeezed lips determinately stare down the spoon... No No No I will not eat.... Ok child, starve then.
The next week... its bathing. No No No I will not have a bath or a shower.... Right, stand her in the shower screaming her lungs out while I hold her down and spray water over her once, and the next night she gives in much more easily! (Dear Child Safety Services - really, its just noise, she is not genuinely injured, it is only her pride that is bruised... really!)
The next week its dressing.... No No No I will not take my pj's off, take my clothes off, put my pj's on, put my clothes on... little arms fused to sides... little legs straight and kicking....
Once again... holding her down and a few trips to time out later and mummy wins again.
Thank heavens I am still bigger and stronger.
And trust me - I know how to negotiate... I explain logically, I bribe, I cajole, I order... and then I disengage from the argument and apply appropriate consequences. I get the job done.
And then its back on the rotunda for the next target of resistance.
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