Negotiating Bedtime

My girls are super easy when compared to some of the other kids I've seen out there. That being said, Arianna is my daughter. She has a personality that can only be blamed on me. Part of this personality entails the refusal to be controlled. It's not so much that we don't want to do what you are telling us to do - but because you're telling us to do it. ... we don't want to do it. Most of the time she's really good about over riding that loose wire in her system (better than I am at it) but when she gets tired her ability to over ride goes down and we end up in a stage 4 reactor meltdown. Last night we blew. Girls were great all night, not a single problem (except the constant search of Mama after she's left for yoga - "Mama?" "Mama's at yoga." "Mama?" "Yoga." "Mama?" "Ugh. Here, watch some Blue's Clues." "BoCoo?!"). That is until story time. I could tell she was getting sleepy because she was rubbing her eyes, so I fast forwarded to teeth brushing and on to the stories. Usually I have them sit in the middle of the room, they get their binkies while I fix the beds and then I'll pick out a couple of books to read. Well first Arianna decided she wasn't going to sit, she was going to scale the rocking chair. Whatever, I still had to fix the beds anyway so I gave her some line. Then I picked out the books and asked her to sit down with her sister - "No!" I gave her a second shot, explaining she'd lose the binkie if she didn't sit down. A vigorous head shake. I popped the binkie out and I might as well have pulled the plug out of a volcano because she erupted in a fit. I held my ground and she held hers. Genevieve, meanwhile, just sat there with a pleasant look on her face waiting for story time to begin. I finally got Arianna to stand next to her sister, but she was holding out the refusal to sit. She would bend over and touch the ground. She would squat. She would kneel. She would do everything BUT touch her butt to the ground. So I just read the books anyway. Genevieve seemingly blind to her sister and me trying to force a happy, whimsical voice as I read "little hands love soft, cuddly bears," as Arianna stood inches from my face, screaming directly in to my ear to ensure I had not forgotten she was there and that I was clearly receiving her message. After book number two we resumed negotiations and agreed on a compromise; she would sit. ... but it would be on my lap. Whatever. It's give and take sometimes. The crying stopped and we made it through book number three with only a slight quiver in her regained breath. After the book I got up to turn on the music and the nightlight and she laid her head down in the middle of the room (I told you she was tired). Of course by some crazy odds she managed to snag her earring in the carpet and we started the freak out all over again. I got the earring back in (I've improved my skills drastically) after what looked like a cowboy roping a calf at a rodeo. Bed time was obviously all we really needed because they were both out in about 35 seconds flat after that door closed. ... and then Daddy got to write 5 pages singles spaced on the effects of property law in modern culture. I'll take Arianna screaming over that any day. At least she makes sense.