Another Year Older, Another Battle of Wills

The Big One turned 5 this week. Ever since her birthday she has been declaring how five-year-olds are supposed to act. Some examples include:

“I’m not going to hit anymore, 5-year-old don’t hit.”

“I’m not going to whine anymore, 5-year-olds don’t whine.”

“It’s okay, {Little One} can have it, 5-year-old can share real good.”

You get the idea. She is apparently going to be a dream child because she has reached the magical age of five.

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Well, that lasted a few days.

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Every night we have a battle over the hall light. The way our upstairs is set- up, the girls’ bedrooms are at the very end of a super long hallway.  It’s very dark if the light is not on, even in the daytime. At bedtime, if we leave the hall light on, the Big One wants it off.   And if we leave it off, she inevitably wants it on.

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If she would just get out of bed and turn it off or on depending on her mood there would be no problems.  The problem is instead of just turning it off or on, she gets out of bed, stomps all the way down the hallway and  then stands at the top of the stairs yelling that she wants the light on or off.

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Honestly, she can reach it, there is no problem with her taking care of her own problem.  Instead it’s a stall tactic to avoid going to bed.  The thing is she knows it makes me crazy when she stands at the top of the steps and hollers down at me.  It just annoys me and it wakes up the Little One.

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So last night as I tucked her in, I asked her three times if she wanted the light off or on.  All three times she said on.  I turned it on and asked if it was at the right amount of light (it’s on a dimmer).  She wanted it turned down some, so I obliged. And then again confirmed that it was set just right.

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After tucking her in, I asked again if the light level was acceptable.  She said it was.  I then told her that if she started screaming at me or freaking out that the light needed to be turned off or up or down that she would be spending all day in her room.   I then asked her what would happen if she got out of bed and complained about the light.  She repeated that she would be in her room all day today.

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As I left her room, I again said if I see you or hear regarding the light, you will be in your room all day tomorrow.  She again confirmed that she understood what I was telling  her.

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I kid you not 15 minutes after I got back downstairs, what do you think happened?  The kid is screaming at the top of the stairs that she wants the light turned off.  Are you kidding me?  I took several deep breaths, walked up the stairs and told her to turn the light off and make herself comfortable because she was going to be in her room for a very long time.   Of course, then she really started wailing and woke the Little One up, who then started screaming because she wanted the hall light back on.

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So now we are stuck at home with nowhere to go.  The Big One doesn’t seem to mind that she is in her room all day.  The Little One is confused as to what is going on.   And I have a headache.  Oh the joys.