Hostage Situation

It went down last night about midnight. I heard Jaden crying in bed, rolling back and forth and thumping herself into the wall. Hoping that I might get to her before she woke Caitlyn, I ran to their room, opened the child proof door handle, and went in. I knew, knew, KNEW it was a bad idea, but my sleepy knee-jerk reaction was to climb in her bed, hug her and try to soothe her back to sleep.

Big mistake. Big. That's how they suck you in. As soon as she felt me by her side, she wrapped her arms around me and there I was...trapped. She opened her eyes, and in her not-very-sleepy voice said, "Go night-night, Mommy. Pillow, blanket, Night-Night." She gently but firmly pushed my head onto the pillow and held me there with her chubby little arm.

Oh, she was calm...as long as I obeyed the rule of staying by her side and NOT moving an inch. The threat hung heavily in the air. If I even dared to kiss her and leave...there would be screams. There would be thumping and crashing and wailing as she kicked her little toddler legs against the closed door. I knew it, and she knew that I knew it.

I was being held hostage by my two-year-old. And I swear I could hear the triumph in her baby voice as she kissed me and told me "Night-night."

I racked my tired brains for a plan. I thought about calling for back-up, but Craig was down the hall in bed. I thought about calling her bluff, but although I could technically have left her to pitch useless fits, then Caitlyn would wake up, and I'd have HER to contend with. I knew I couldn't fight them both.

So I did what all hostages do...I did what I was told, and to hell with negotiating. I laid my head on her pillow and I went NIGHT-NIGHT, by god. I went night-night.