Played Like A Fiddle...

Twilight Turtle Fail

"Annie, you look tired,"  says a fellow colleague at work today.  "Is everyone well in your house?"

"Yup, but we've got a bad case of the threes."

He went to bed fine.  He had a nap during the day.  He ate a good dinner.  He wasn't hungry.  The previous night he scored an A+, staying in his bed all night long and sleeping through the night.  And then....

It began at about 2:30am.  "DADDY!  DADDY!  I can't sleeeeeeeeeeeeeep!"  Daddy went in for a snuggle and told him to go back to bed.  Daddy left.  An hour later, "Mommmmmmmy, Dadddddddddy, I still can't sleep."  We ignored.  He cried.  He cried some more.  I yelled to him, "Just rest your eyes, etc."  This went on far too long.  Yelling from room to room wasn't a good idea.

He then came into our bedroom dragging his pink blanky behind - just like Linus.  A really big display took place.  We told him he simply couldn't come in our bed.  We battled, we had words.  I dragged him back to his own bed at 4am and proceeded to turn off the light that had somehow gotten turned on during all of the shananigans.

"No wonder you can't sleep.  You have a bright light shining in your face."  I reassured him that morning wasn't that far off and he could come into our bedroom when it gets light and it's time for breakfast."  You know how it goes.  I snuggled.  I left.

30 minutes later -
"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaddddddddddy!"  The yelling was bad.  Daddy was MAD.  Daddy decided to show him who was boss.  But I think there were too many grown up ideas being discussed - like how Daddy won't be able to function at work in the morning, etc."  At one point, the clever three year old told us, "I'm gonna keep screaming until you let me in your bed.  I have to sleep in your bed."

Shit.  We never ever let Emily in our bed.  But then again, she never wandered in during the night at this age.  We caved with Aidan during the night before at age 3, so now he thinks he can just sneak his way in.  Now mind you, it wasn't an often occurrence.  You know, sometimes we are both just dead tired and can't be bothered getting up to deal.  So we had let him get in the middle (probably around the time when we got the King bed?)  Shit.  Yes, we caused this.

We'll have to end it.  The kid has been warned. But you know how it goes, one night's great, the next night's a shit show.  I am not a fiddle.

What would you do in my situation?  Any fresh ideas or middle of the night techniques that have worked for you?  Please do share.  I can use all the help I can get.

I'll show him who's boss.  No more negotiating.  Starting tonight.